From Dreams to Reality
by Fiery Punk Princess
Summary: After Hermione has a dream about Draco being punished by his father, she gets a surprise when Draco turns up brutally injured and she realises that her dream was in fact a vision of the reality. (Eventually DHr - COMPLETED.
1. A Realistic Dream

Disclaimer: Everything is owned by J.K.Rowling and her various publishers.  
I own nothing!!!  
  
From Dreams to Reality  
By Fiery Punk Princess  
  
Chapter 1_______________________________________________________________  
  
Lucius Malfoy stood there in a clearing of a dark, drafty forest, looking at his son Draco with a look of pure malice on his pale face. Draco looked frightened, as though he knew what was to come. Lucius raised his wand and Draco braced himself for pain; deadly pain.  
  
"Crucio!" Lucius yelled. Excruciating agony swept through Draco's whole body and he couldn't help but scream because of it. Lucius gave a cold, cruel laugh and stopped, before swiftly approaching Draco, who was now on the ground, gasping in pain. "You are going to regret your choice after I'm through with you, boy. You are disowning the family name."  
  
Draco didn't have time to prepare himself before he felt a hard kick in his stomach followed by one in his groin. Pain was flooding through his throbbing veins and he didn't have much time to think before his vision was blinded and he fell into a heap on the dusty ground, unconsciousness taking him over instantly.  
  
*  
  
By the time Draco regained consciousness, dawn was engulfing the previous darkness. He was still lying in the grim forest, his whole body feeling as though he had been run over by the Knight Bus more than once. He painfully sat up and looked around, only to find that he was alone in the silent, still forest.  
  
He slowly and carefully stood up and ran his fingers through his sliver- blonde hair, only to feel a great amount of pain. Taking his hand away, he looked at it, and saw that his fingers had a small amount of blood on them. He felt tears well up in his grey eyes and he realised that his father had hurt him a lot more than he ever had previously. He lent against the closest tree and wiped away the tears, knowing that he would have to do something and get away from the forest, but he wasn't going to head home, he was going to get as far away from home as he could.  
  
Working up some strength, Draco started heading in the direction of east, towards the rising sun, wondering exactly how far he would have to walk until he reached a town or village.  
  
Hermione Granger woke with a start and sat up in her bed, her breathing ragged and harsh. She had had another nightmare. She was getting quite used to them now. Ever since near the beginning of her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry she had been having them and they were almost always the same. This one however, had been different and quite . strange, yet remotely real and not quite as frightening.  
  
The ones she usually had always had the frightening figure of Lord Voldemort standing in the middle of a circle of hooded, masked Death Eaters, with a dead body sprawled out on the grassy ground amongst ancient tombstones in a graveyard. This one had been in a forest, with no Voldemort and only one Death Eater, who was with his son, both of whom she was familiar with.  
  
Draco Malfoy had been her worst enemy since their first year and now, about to begin their seventh, it seemed quite ironic that she would have a dream about him, especially like that one.  
  
She looked over at her window and could tell that, behind the curtains, the sun had risen in the east and was sitting in the blue sky and setting warmth down to the Earth, showing the beginning of what was to be quite a warm summer day.  
  
She glanced over at her alarm clock on her bedside table to find that the hour was approaching nine o'clock AM. Sighing, she threw the covers off of her and climbed off the bed. She headed to her window and opened the curtains to let more light into the small bedroom and looked out at the edge of a small forest that her house sat near.  
  
She stood there for several minutes and watched the still trees as the unseen sun shone on them, casting weary shadows behind them. She always enjoyed the sight for some reason. She felt that it was almost as nice as a sunset, as strange as that might sound. Ever since she was little she had been fond of the forest, yet she had never entered it. In the winter, you often saw people enter the trees and make snowmen and sometimes even go in there to get a good Christmas tree. She just liked the sight.  
  
Her mind was in another world and she almost didn't notice a rather tall, staggering figure of a blonde male exit the trees, looking as though he'd been in a severe accident. She recognised the person instantly as the teenage boy that had haunted her most recent dream.  
  
"Malfoy?" She gasped out quietly. She didn't even think before she ran out of her room to the front door, ignoring her father's curious questioning. She opened the door and ran out and across her front garden, just in time to catch Draco as he staggered passed, looking as though he was ready to pass out cold at any moment.  
  
"Granger?" he said, looking down at her unclearly as she stood there in a summer nightgown, holding his bruised arm.  
  
"Malfoy, are you - are you alright?" Right now, she couldn't care less that they were enemies. He didn't look very well at all and she wanted to help him. Them being enemies didn't matter.  
  
She only just had time to hear her mother's gasp and running before he passed out, falling into her arms. Hermione clenched her teeth and gasped several times as she tried to hold his limp weight up.  
  
"Mum, we have to get him inside," she said between gasps. Her mother nodded fervently and hurried to help her daughter as they carried him inside and lay him on the couch.  
  
"Do you know this young man, Hermione?" her mother asked.  
  
Hermione nodded. "Draco Malfoy. I go to school with him. We don't get along, though, but when I saw him exit the forest." She trailed off. Her mother nodded in understanding.  
  
"Do you know anyone who would want to hurt him like this?" her father asked.  
  
Hermione went over the question in her head. There was really lots of people who would want to hurt him like this. Her two best friends Harry Potter and Ron Weasley for one, but they couldn't or wouldn't have possibly done this to him. Her thoughts traveled back to her dream and she looked over at Draco's limp, unconscious body. Realisation hit her and she stumbled backwards slightly in frightened shock.  
  
"I had a strange dream last night," she said absently to her watching mother and father. "Malfoy - he was in it. His - His father was punishing him. Mum, I think my dream may have been . real."  
  
*  
  
For many hours following, Hermione watched Draco sleep, with confused thoughts penetrating through her mind. It didn't seem possible that the events of her dream had actually been real. Sure, she was a witch, but she couldn't contain that sort of power, could she? She had never even believed there was such a power.  
  
Hermione's thoughts had been so jumbled up and confused, she didn't notice Draco's eyes slowly open as he regained consciousness until she heard him let out a moan of pain. She looked over in his direction and watched, as he became aware of his surrounding. He sat up abruptly; ignoring the pain it caused and looked around. He stopped when he noticed Hermione sitting there with her deep brown eyes on him.  
  
"Granger?" he said in disbelief. "Where am I?"  
  
Hermione stood up and headed over to him. "Your at my house," she said simply, trying to make him lie down again.  
  
"Oh, that's just wonderful," he said sarcastically. Hermione thought it amazing how he could still be sarcastic and arrogant when he was injured as badly as he was. "Why exactly am I here, anyway? Is this one of my father's sick jokes or just an extremely bad nightmare?"  
  
"Look, Malfoy, you're here because - though I thought you would've noticed by now - you're badly hurt and injured for some unknown reason - I'm guessing your father. I just happened to see you coming out of the forest, looking as though you'd been run over by an eighteen-wheeler truck," Hermione said. She wasn't going to mention the dream - not to him.  
  
Draco looked down at himself and absently bit his lower lip. "My father," he said quietly. "He was upset about me not wanting to become a Death Eater."  
  
Hermione wasn't really surprised by this news. She knew Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater and an evil one at that, but she had always thought, for the six years she'd known him, that he did everything his father wanted him to do. Yet, here he was, saying that he did not want to be a Death Eater at all.  
  
"I think it would be best if you stayed here at my house for a while, Malfoy," Hermione said softly after a moment. "I've written a letter to Dumbledore and he should be arriving soon to talk to you. It wouldn't be safe for you to go home, not with your father being there."  
  
"What did you say to Dumbledore in the letter?" Draco asked, curious.  
  
"The truth. That I'd seen you exit the forest near here, that you were really injured and that my mum and me helped you into the house while you were unconscious," Hermione said. She hesitated before continuing. "I-I also told him about the dream I had last night." She didn't want to go into any details.  
  
"A dream, you told the headmaster of Hogwarts about a dream you had?" Draco smirked. Hermione scowled.  
  
"It wasn't just any dream, Malfoy," she snapped. "I think it might have been the events of your father punishing you." Draco lifted an eyebrow. "Look, it freaked me out when I saw you exit that forest. The way you looked, the way you were walking. it all fitted in with the dream." Draco gave a light shrug and lay back down, looking around the neat and tidy room.  
  
"Where are the Muggles, your parents I mean?" he asked.  
  
"They've - they've gone to see my aunt in hospital. She's just had a baby," Hermione replied.  
  
"Oh yay, another Muggle in the world," Draco said sarcastically. Hermione narrowed her eyes.  
  
"You ought to be nicer to me, Malfoy, or I will send you back home so your Daddy Dearest can finish you off," Hermione said snappily.  
  
Draco's eyes widened. "I wasn't directing that statement towards you," he said defensively. Hermione just ignored him and stood up.  
  
"Would you like something to eat or drink?" she asked over her shoulder as she headed for the kitchen.  
  
"Have you got any pumpkin juice?" Hermione stopped and turned around to look at him.  
  
"Er. pumpkin juice isn't a very common drink in the Muggle world," she said with a tiny, guilty smile. "We have water and normal orange juice."  
  
"A glass of water than," Draco said reluctantly. "Stupid Muggles," he cursed quietly, not wanting Hermione to hear.  
  
He didn't feel his time at the Granger house was going to be enjoyable.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Author Notes: There you have Chapter 1! A little bit short and OoC, I know and I'm sorry for that. This is my first ever fic and it's not coming easy for me, I swear! Please review and tell my what you thought of this chapter.  
  
In the next chapter, Dumbledore will come, Draco and Hermione will argue (nothing new) and Hermione gets an invitation from Ron, asking her to go and stay at the Burrow for the rest of the holidays.  
  
Fiery Punk Princess 


	2. Arrangements, Chats and Letters

_**Disclaimer: **I own nothing!_

**Chapter 2**

It was quite late in the evening when Dumbledore arrived, though he didn't stay long. He had come to see Draco's condition and get a story on what had happened. Everyone in the small lounge room - Dumbledore, Hermione and Hermione's parents, listened to his tragic story with intent, but no one reacted the same way to the story as Hermione did.

The whole of his story, all the details and descriptions, were like her dream, only it was being told rather than seen. She didn't understand how this was true. It was as though she had had a premonition of some sort, but Hermione didn't believe in that. It frightened her, though. What if it happened again? What if she had another dream tonight and wakes up in the morning to find that the same thing had happened in another case? Hermione didn't know how to express these feelings and questions to anyone…

Dumbledore left after giving Hermione a bottle of a greenish-yellow, pain-easing potion and instructions to give Draco about half a glass of it every twenty-four hours until he was better. He preformed an anti-Appariating/Disappariating charm (to keep Lucius from finding Draco) on the house and told Draco that he was to stay at the Granger residence for the rest of the summer holidays. This made neither Draco nor Hermione happy at all.

Once Dumbledore had left, Hermione found herself quite amused by Draco's fascination with the television, as her parents watched one of their favourite programs. She had given him a dose of the potion and he seemed to be feeling a lot better since. However, her father was getting rather frustrated with all of Draco's constant questions about electricity and wiring.

Hermione approached Malfoy on the couch. "Malfoy, get up," she said reluctantly. "If you're going to be staying here, you have to know where everything is. Come on."

Draco slowly got off the couch and followed her into the passageway, a vacant expression on his face.

"You should be taking Muggle Studies, Malfoy," Hermione said. "All those questions were started to annoy my dad and believe me when I tell you it's _not_ a good idea to annoy my dad, especially when he's trying to watch TV."

"Where's your bathroom?" Draco asked, looking up and down the passage at the several doors. Hermione led him to the end of the passage and stopped in front of a door to their right, labeled with a small plaque saying "bathroom".

"You can access the toilet from in there. There's also a door in the laundry you can access through if someone's in the shower or something," she said. Draco nodded and headed into the bathroom.

Hermione stood outside, waiting until he was finished and when he had, she led him to the door at the very end of the passageway, which had a sign on it that said "Hermione's Room" written in enchanted letters that flashed from gold to red and back again.

"Oh, wonderful, Gryffindor colours," Draco said sarcastically in a spiteful tone. Hermione gave him a cold look before opening the door to reveal her neat and tidy room. She entered with Draco right behind her and sat down on her freshly-made bed.

"This," she said with a small smile, "is my room."

"I gathered that by the sign," Draco smirked, pointing to her open door. Hermione gave him another cool look.

"If you need something during the night or anything, you'll find me here. Just knock first before you enter. At night, while my parents are asleep, knock lightly. Their room's right next door and they can hear even the very slightest of sounds, so be careful," Hermione said. A thought suddenly struck her. "How are you going to get all your stuff here? I mean you can't go back home with your father there. Dumbledore didn't even say anything about that."

Draco frowned and sat down on Hermione's desk chair. "I could always send an owl to my house-elf, Penya. She'd do whatever I asked her to, even if it was written in a letter. I'd have to ask her to do it without my father knowing, though."

Hermione gave a bit of a guilty smile. "I don't have an owl, though," she said. "I am due for an owl from Harry, however. Hedwig usually stays here for a few hours after bringing me a letter. We could always use her and I'll just tell Harry that I needed her for something," she suggested. "I used Ron's owl when I sent that letter to Dumbledore. I'm sure Harry won't mind."

"Fine," Draco said stiffly. "We'll use your _wonderful_ boyfriend's owl."

"Malfoy," Hermione said warningly. "It's our only chance of getting your things here. That is if your house-elf can read?"

"Penya can read," Draco assured her. Hermione looked surprisingly impressed. "My mother taught her. Mother can't handle paper work, so she taught Penya to do it for her." Hermione opened her mouth to speak. "Granger, I don't need your stupid house-elf rights gibberish right now, so don't even start."

"I was only going to say that your mother should be doing her _own_ paper work," Hermione muttered, before closing her mouth.

Next morning, Hermione woke to the sound of something tapping on glass. She gave a great yawn and stretch and looked over at her window, where the tapping was coming from. She climbed out of bed and headed over. She opened her blinds, letting the fresh summer sunshine float in and into her room. A beautiful snowy owl was sitting outside on the sill with a letter tied to her leg. Hermione opened her window and Hedwig flew in, her right wing tickling Hermione's ear.

Hedwig landed softly on Hermione's messed up bed and cheerfully held out her leg. Hermione made her way over and untied the letter from it. Hedwig then flew over to Hermione's desk and perched herself on the top of Hermione's chair. Hermione smiled at the owl and went over to give her a light pat.

"Here, Hedwig," she said, holding out an arm for the bird to hop onto. "We'll go get you a drink, shall we?" Hedwig gave a delightful hoot and hopped onto Hermione's awaiting arm. "Good girl."

Hermione exited her room and carefully carried Hedwig down the passage to the kitchen. She grabbed a small container out of the cupboard under the sink and filled it with water. She set Hedwig down on a bench, with the water, allowing the bird to have a good, nice drink from it.

Hermione quietly headed out of the kitchen into the lounge room and kneeled down next to Draco. "Malfoy," she whispered close to his ear, taking in the sweet aroma of his silver-blonde hair. "Malfoy, wake up."

Draco let out a moan and opened his eyes. "Mmm … what is it, Granger?" he asked in an agitated tone.

"Hedwig, she's here," Hermione said, standing back up and heading back towards the kitchen.

"Hedwig?" Draco said, throwing the blankets off him and standing up.

"Harry's owl," Hermione reminded him. Draco wearily nodded as he entered the kitchen, to see the snowy owl sitting on the bench, a container of water in front of her. "You should send that letter you wrote to Penya now, because Hedwig will want to head back to Harry very soon, now she's had a drink."

Draco nodded and put his hand in his pocket, bringing out a small a piece of parchment. He handed the letter (which he'd written the night earlier) to Hermione, who tied it to Hedwig's leg with a small piece of string.

"I want you to send this to Penya the house-elf. She works in a mansion on the other side of the forest," Hermione said carefully to the bird. She looked at Draco to make sure she was giving the right instructions. Draco nodded and Hermione turned back to Hedwig.  
"Penya the house-elf. Got that?" Hedwig gave a light hoot and flew, out of the kitchen, down the passage and out into the day's fresh air through Hermione's open window.

"I'll have to send Harry a reply some other time," Hermione sighed.

"Ohhhh, the poor scarhead's going to be so heartbroken," Draco smirked sarcastically. "He may never forgive you this time around, Granger. What are you going to do then, go after Weasley? Oh, wait, I forgot, you've already had him. Looks like Longbottom will have his chance at last!"

"Shut up, Malfoy," Hermione snapped. "Harry and I are nothing more than best friends and that's not about to change, so get used to it."

"Oh, but you want it to change, don't you Granger?" Draco drawled, an odd glimmer in his grey eyes. "I've seen the way you look at him. You'd probably do anything for him, wouldn't you?" Hermione's cheeks went red and she didn't reply. Draco gave her a triumphant look, before turning around and heading back into the lounge, wanting to get a tiny bit more sleep.

Hermione headed back up to her room and sat down on her bed.

For nearly two years now, she had been trying to get Harry's attention, trying to make Harry notice her, but never had he. Ron had, but that hadn't lasted all that long. Harry had never even suspected that she like him, yet it was so obvious to the people around them. Draco was right when saying that she would probably do anything for him and that sentence had awakened her unhappiness. She wasn't really happy at all, unless she had Harry near her, or on her mind. Draco didn't know _this_, but it was likely that he would work it out at some point over the next couple of weeks, while he stayed here at her house…

Hermione ran her fingers through her bushy brown hair and sighed heavily. She was going to have to do something to stop all their bickering if they were to be spending the rest of the holidays in the same house together. He wasn't allowed to go anywhere at all, over that time, just stay there at her house, due to the possibility that his father might find him if he went anywhere else and she of course had been told to stay with him at all times…

Her thoughts traveled back to her dream and she gave a shiver as she remembered the events of Lucius's punishment. He was lucky to be alive and she knew it. She didn't know how she would've reacted if he had died, though, as no one may never of found him, being in the forest. She gave another shiver. She'd hate it if she died and had no one know about it, until they sent out a search party to look for her… Her thoughts trailed off and she shook her mind of those thoughts.

How in Merlin's name could she have seen something in a dream that had happened in reality? The question had circled her mind since her realisation and never had she gotten a real, straight answer to it. She knew that Harry had had a few dreams in the last couple of years about Voldemort similar to this, but she had never felt, or believed that she would have one…

A tiny owl flying merrily into her room through her still-open window suddenly interrupted her thoughts. She reconised it immediately as Ron's owl, Pigwidgeon as it started flying around her light shade crazily. She had to stand on her bed to reach the minute owl, which was carrying a piece of parchment, larger than Pig himself, on his leg.

She carefully untied the letter and read it:

_Dear Hermione,_

_I hope this letter gets to you quickly, because Harry is truly starting to drive me nuts! He's dying to talk to you about something – I don't know what – but he really wants to talk to you for some reason, and I want to see you. Anyway, how about it? Do you want to come and stay at my house for the rest of the summer._

_Please reply as quickly as you can,_

_- Ron._

Hermione stared sadly at the note. She couldn't go and stay at the Burrow, not with Draco here at her house. She gazed at the words "_He's dying to talk to you…_" for a moment sulkily and frowned suddenly. Curious, Hermione pulled Harry's letter out of her pocket and read it quickly. Sure enough, he seemed to really want to see and talk to her.

Why on Earth would he want to talk to her that badly?…


	3. More Chatting

_**Disclaimer:** I own nothing_

_**Chapter 3**_

Hermione felt her lowest as she watched Pigwidgeon fly out of her window with her reply to Ron and a small letter to Harry.

She hadn't told them anything about Draco being there at her house. She'd only told them that something important had come up and that she was unable to stay. She had greatly wanted to, but with the current, unwanted circumstances, she was unable to.

She got dressed rather slowly before heading out of her room, just in time to say goodbye to her parents before they headed off to work. In the lounge, Draco was lying on the couch, watching a kids program on television. He was looking completely dumbstruck at the people on the screen, who were riding around of fake, plastic horses, eerily singing a stupid song at the same time.

"What the hell is this riff-raff?" he asked, a rather revolted look on his face. "They're acting like complete fools!"

Hermione headed over and changed the channel. "It was a children's show," she answered. "They always act like that. Muggle children find it entertaining." She looked him up and down, taking in his face, which was much paler than usual. "How are you feeling?" she asked. "I was meant to ask you earlier, but then you brought up that stuff about Harry…"

"I feel fine, Granger," Draco replied stiffly. "I'm bored out of my wits, but, since the potion still seems to be in control, I feel fine." Hermione had an impassive expression on her face as she sat down on the other couch. "Look, Granger, I didn't mean to offend you with that stuff I said earlier."

"It was true though," she said before she could stop herself. "I do like Harry – an awful lot." She sighed. "I had to decline in going to see Ron because of you and now, you're not going to be the only miserable, bored one in this house."

"You could've gone," Draco said. "I don't need all your _wonderful_ care. I am capable of looking after myself you know."

"I'm not about to leave you in the same house with my Muggle parents," Hermione said as if the idea was absurd. "I know you better. You'd be awful to them, just like you're always awful to me, and Harry, and Ron and every other person that's not you, or your friend."

Draco stared at her, a sneer on his pale face. "That was not called for, Granger," he hissed. "I haven't said anything to you over the last twenty-four hours that can be said to be insulting. I appreciate the fact that you're doing all this for me. I wouldn't have done it for you, that's for sure, so don't insult _me_ like that."

"But it's true and you know it, Malfoy," Hermione said. "You're always insulting someone, whether it's me or … Dumbledore. You seem to get _joy_ out of it."

"So what if I do," Draco sneered. "I'm a Slytherin and a Malfoy. It's only natural for me to do so."

"So you want to turn into the same sort of person your father is: torturing Muggles and Muggle-borns and other innocent human beings?" Hermione snapped. "If that's so, Malfoy, then you shouldn't be here. You should be by your father's side and kissing the hem of Voldemort's robes!"

Draco stayed silent, looking at Hermione with a hateful expression. "Don't talk about things you don't know or understand, Granger," he said softly. "And don't estimate me." He turned his gaze back to the TV, where a weather report was showing.

Hermione stared at him for a moment. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, standing up and heading into the kitchen to get some breakfast.

Hermione was surprised at Draco's behaviour after breakfast. He ignored her when she asked if he wanted anything to eat and just continued to watch some chat show on the TV. He seemed to have gotten quite used to watching television in the short time he'd watched it. He made comments to himself every now and then about the way the people on the screen acted and sometimes nodded his head in agreement. Hermione watched him closely as he did all this, not making a sound in her process.

Finally, lunchtime came and he seemed to finally want to talk to her.

"I'm getting hungry," he said simply to her. A bit of colour had crept back into his cheeks and he was looking slightly better, though the many bruises on his neck and face were more noticeable than ever.

"What do you want?" Hermione asked, heading into the kitchen. "We have bread for sandwiches, fruit, vegies… We haven't got much I'm sorry. Mum needs to do some grocery shopping after she leaves the clinic." Draco headed into the kitchen and looked around at the many cupboards and then into the refrigerator, which Hermione was holding open.

"Clinic?" Draco repeated, looking at her.

"Yes, my mum and dad are dentists," Hermione clarified. "They work at a dental clinic in town." Draco absently nodded as he grabbed an apple.

Hermione grabbed one as well and sat down at the table. She gestured at Draco to do the same and he sat down in the seat opposite her.

"Malfoy," Hermione said, after swallowing a bite of her apple. "Can I ask you a question?" Draco nodded. "You know how I had that dream, does that happen very often to people in the wizarding world?"

Draco frowned and thought. "Not really. My grandmother had dreams like that, though. She said it was a rare gift. Not many people are good at seeing the future, or can for that matter."

"Then, could it have all been a coincidence that I had dream that was similar to the events of you being punished by your father?" Hermione asked, hopeful.

"I doubt that, Granger," Draco said. "You looked truly freaked out last night when I was explaining what had happened to Dumbledore. I'd say you truly did see it."

"But what does that mean?" Hermione asked frantically. "Does that make me a Seer or something?"

Draco frowned and shrugged, taking another bite of his apple. "Perhaps," he said uncertainly. "It's nothing to get freaked out about."

Hermione looked down at her apple, strangely and very suddenly losing her appetite. "What about if it happens again? What if I see Voldemort killing … Dumbledore or something? What am I to do then?"

Draco only shrugged and stood up to throw his apple in the bin. Hermione groaned and Draco turned back to her. "You might see something good happening, you know. You might see Potter kissing you."

"I doubt that'll ever happen. He never takes any notice of me in that way," Hermione said, standing up as well, to throw her own apple in the bin. She searched her mind for something that could change the subject. "Have you ever played the game _Monopoly_?" she asked.

Draco frowned, looking suddenly clueless. "Monopoly?" he repeated.

"Yeah. It's a Muggle board game. I have it up in my closet if you want to play it. It can be quite fun at times and it always fills in time," Hermione said.

Draco, still frowning, shrugged. "If there's nothing better to do," he replied.

Hermione for some very odd reason looked suddenly excited and gave a little hop before heading up to her room to get the game, Draco right behind her.

Hours passed and Hermione was extremely surprised at how fun she and Draco were having, even with Draco's constant, annoyed insults being thrown her way. It had taken Hermione a while to explain the game of Monopoly to Draco, but once he had gotten the hang of it, he was doing quite well. Hermione, however, was winning, but only slightly.

Draco's owl, Elk, had delivered his belongings and was now sitting on top of Hermione's cat, Crookshanks' scratching pole, looking as though he owned the place. Draco was growing steadily paler as he sat and played, complaining about the money being notes not coins. His hair was becoming straw-like and he was still slightly grubby from his father's evil-doings and time in the forest, even though her mother had cleaned him up a little bit.

"Malfoy, why don't you go have a bath, while I'll get dinner ready. It's Monday and my parents won't be home until eight. I think you're almost due for your potion as well," Hermione said. Draco gave a small nod. "Come on, I'll show you where everything is." She stood up and helped him stand.

Draco headed over to his belongings and grabbed some clean clothes, deodorant and an odd-looking razor thing, before turning back to Hermione.

She led the way to the bathroom, where she got a few things out of the cupboard: bubble bath, soap, a clean face cloth, some shampoo and a bottle of conditioner.

"Take as long as you need," she said, before exiting and closing the door. She headed back down the passage to the kitchen, where she busied herself with preparing something for the two of them to eat.

Draco sighed slightly to himself as he sat down in the warm, refreshing water of the bath, letting the steam and water seep into his cuts and bruises, which suddenly felt less painful as the dirt and grim washed off them.

He had to admit that it was very nice of Hermione to take him in like this, acting as though she actually cared, even though she probably didn't. He would never let her, or anyone else, stay at his house if they were ill, or injured, or in a bad state like him. He wouldn't let them take baths in one of his bathrooms, or sleep on his couch or in one of the guestrooms and he most certainly wouldn't make them dinner, or even let the House-elves make them dinner. Yet, here she was, letting him stay, letting him have a bath in her bathroom and cooking him dinner, even when they had been enemies for the whole time of knowing each other. He absently felt he didn't deserve her care.

He moved further down into the water, letting the water relieve some of the pain from his previously aching chest. He closed his eyes as his body fully relaxed and he became calm, only to let his thoughts wander to what she had told him about her dream.

It was odd, but he hadn't been lying when he had told her about his grandmother. He couldn't understand how Hermione had that sort of gift, though. His grandmother had always been very interested in the art of advanced Divination and had been extremely good at it, but he knew for a fact that Hermione had hardly any Divination experience in her life. It wasn't an unknown fact at Hogwarts that she had stormed out of a Divination class in her third year, never returning, meaning she had no _real_ experience at all.

Draco frowned and opened his eyes. It wasn't very often that you heard of a Muggle-born witch with a very rare magical gift, in which it's art they have had no real experience in.

Draco's frown grew bigger at that thought.

Perhaps Hermione was much more powerful and talented than he had ever considered her to be.


	4. Of a Death and Unreasoned Hatred

_**Disclaimer:** I own nothing_

**Chapter 4**

Lucius Malfoy dragged Narcissa by the arm, through the trees of the forest until they reached a large clearing, the same of which Lucius had punished Draco in. He threw Narcissa so she staggered backwards and landed with a painful 'thud' on the hard ground.

_A thick piece of black cloth was covering her mouth, causing all her attempts of words to become muffled. She stood, only to have Lucius raise his wand at her._

"_Locomotor Mortis," he hissed, pointing it at Narcissa's legs. They immediately sprung together and, unable to keep her balance, fell to the ground again, letting out an indistinguishable squeal of pain. "My dear, it is time. You knew this day would come the moment you started to feed information to Fudge."_

_Narcissa gave a struggle, trying to defend herself with words, but it was hopeless. She wanted to just reach up and untie the piece of cloth, but she knew that her attempt wouldn't be rewarded, as it was there by magic. She closed her eyes, waiting with fear for what was to come:_

"_Avada Kedavra!" Lucius shouted. A flash of green light exited his wand and spread through the surrounding trees. Lucius gave a cruel, icy cold laugh at the sight of Narcissa's limp, lifeless body, sprawled on the dusty ground._

Hermione let out a gasp and opened her eyes abruptly. She stared up at the ceiling of her dark room, aware of the cold sweat that was running down her brow. She was shaking slightly as images from her nightmare came back into view. She sat up, her breathing coming out irregularly and shut her eyes, trying to force the images to go away.

The images stayed where they were, however. Lucius, standing there with his wand pointing at Narcissa's heart, Narcissa's dead figure, the green light of the Killing Curse… All of it was fixed in Hermione's mind. She breathed in deeply, trying to calm herself, only to find her throat dry. She waited a few moments before climbing out of bed and heading to her door. She slowly and quietly opened it, before heading out and tiptoeing down the passage to the kitchen. Unable to see much, she flicked on the light, hoping not to wake Draco. She pored herself a drink of water from the fridge and sat down at the table to drink it.

The dream was still on her mind and she gave a light shiver, despite the warm summer air surrounding her. Why would Lucius want to kill Narcissa? Had she done something to betray him? A few of Lucius' words floated back into her mind. _"…You knew this day would come the moment you started to feed information to Fudge." _Cornelius Fudge? Had she really been feeding information to the Minister for Magic?

Hermione shook her head. She was getting worked up over something she didn't even know was real. It all could've been nothing more than a dream, not another "vision" like the one she'd seen with Draco. Her subconscious was telling her differently, though – that it was another vision, that Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother was really dead, or was going to die, that Lucius had, or was, going to kill her.

Hermione's lower lip trembled and she buried her face in her arms. She couldn't understand how she had this sort of power: to see the reality in her dreams.

Draco woke with a groan, as he became aware of the pounding in his head. He re-closed his eyes, wanting some relief, but it didn't help much. He sat up and looked around the room, only to notice Hermione sitting at the table in the dining room, her head resting in her arms as she slept, a half-glass of water sitting in front of her.

He looked up at the clock: it was seven o'clock AM. Giving a yawn and a stretch, he stood up and headed over to the table.

"Granger, wake up," he said, giving her a rather rough shake, causing her to wake up abruptly. She looked at him, a dark expression on her pale face.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked severely.

Draco took the seat at the end of the table. "Note to self: Granger isn't a morning person," he said sarcastically to himself. Hermione gave him a cold look, which he didn't hesitate in returning. "What are you doing out here?" he asked roughly, taking in her light summer nightgown.

Hermione frowned, trying to remember and went even paler when she did. "I –" she started, her throat going dry again. "I came out here during the night. I had a –" She stopped, unsure whether she should continue or not.

Draco looked impatient. "Spit it out, Granger," he sneered.

Hermione looked down at her hands, curled up in her lap. "I had a nightmare," she said.

"About…?" Draco pushed her to continue.

"I can't tell you," Hermione said. Draco opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione stopped him. "I just can't tell you."

She stood up and headed out of the room to go and get a bit more sleep in her bed, leaving Draco sitting there with a confused expression on his face.

Hermione re-woke to the sound of many voices coming from outside. She dressed quickly, a frown printed on her face the whole time and headed back out of her room to go and investigate.

Reaching the front door, she looked over at Draco, who was sleeping on the couch, before heading out the door. The moment she re-closed her door, she found that her street was crowded with about fifty people, all standing around chatting. An oddly dressed man, accompanied by two other men, was taking photos of the forest with an old ornate camera.

Hermione, curious, approached a small group of people who stood close by. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Oh, a woman was killed in these trees last night, dear," said a woman Hermione recognised as the nosy woman that lived across from her. "What was her name found to be again, Geoffrey?"

"Narcissa Malfoy, Edna. Narcissa Malfoy," said a man, obviously Geoffrey.

Hermione's veins went suddenly cold and her heart did a sickly plummet into her stomach. Muttering a quick "Thanks" to the group, she turned and headed back into the house, only to find Draco awake on the couch.

"What's with all the racket out there?" he asked. "Doesn't your neighbourhood care about people sleeping?"

Hermione headed around and took a seat on the other couch. "Someone was killed in the forest last night," Hermione said. "I saw it all in my dream, too."

Draco looked up at her abruptly, as he fiddled with the TV remote. "Who was killed?" he asked.

Hermione looked at him in the eye for a long moment before hesitantly replying. "Your mother. Your father killed her."

Of the seventeen years Draco had been alive, his mother had always meant a great deal to him. She had always helped him after his father's punishments; she let him have his own choices in life, where Lucius would never allow that; she did nearly everything to make sure Draco was well. Now, however, with her dead, she wouldn't be there for him at all and that was what hit him the worst and he felt his anger and hatred towards his father build up inside of him.

"Malfoy?" Hermione said, trying to get his attention. "Draco?" Her use of his first name caused his thoughts to pause for a moment as he looked at her, slightly surprised. "I'm really sorry. I probably should've told you about my dream earlier."

Draco just looked at her for a moment before speaking. "Tell me, how did he kill her?" he asked.

Hermione, caught off guard by the question, took a moment before replying. "He used the leg-locker curse on her first and then…" She swallowed thickly. "… Avada Kedavra." The words exited her mouth quietly and she let out a small whimper, trying to push back her building tears.

Draco was staring at her numbly. "Avada Kedavra?" he repeated rather angrily. Hermione nodded. "What the hell did she do to deserve _that_?"

Hermione ran her fingers through her messy hair. "From what your father said, she had been feeding confidential information to Cornelius Fudge," Hermione replied. "That's all I know."

"My mother would _never_…"

"Well your father thought she was, Malfoy," Hermione said. "She had a piece of cloth wrapped around her mouth. She couldn't verbally defend herself against that. Maybe your father was wrong, maybe someone else was, or is, giving Fudge information."

Draco frowned, trying to contain the anger that stirred around within him. "I don't see who would, though. My father has a lot of power you may not be aware of, Granger. Only a person with a great amount of guts and courage would go and betray him like that."

"I'm aware of your father's power, Malfoy," Hermione said, her expression serious. "It doesn't really matter who _is_ behind it at the moment, anyway. What does matter is that you're safe. Your father couldn't possibly find you here."

Draco stared at her blankly for a moment. "I'm really glad that you care, Granger," he said stiffly, "but my mother is _dead _and she was killed because my bloody father suspected her of doing something she most likely didn't do!"

Hermione gave him a small, false smile. "There's nothing you can do now, Draco." She paused for a moment, not caring that she had just called him by his first name. Her voice softened as she continued, a look of great thought on her face. "It must really be hard losing someone so close to you. That's one thing I have never experienced. I can only judge on how I would feel if I lost Harry or Ron…"

Draco wasn't really listening to her. He was taking more note of how she was looking at him, as though she actually felt sympathy for him. No one like her had ever really shown anything like that towards him. In fact, the only person he ever knew who had, had been his mother. The fact that Hermione was now, though, both confused and chilled him slightly, because she was one of his worst enemies, but it also, oddly, warmed him at the same time.

Hermione suddenly became aware of his stare and stopped both her talking and her trail of thought. His eyes had an odd glimmer in them, unlike anything she had ever seen in them. It wasn't scheming, or malicious, but something entirely different that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Hermione slowly came back to her original senses as her eyes started tracing the line of his smooth, pale cheekbones and mentally slapped herself. She was not allowed to look at Draco Malfoy like that!

"Draco?" she said, trying to get his attention.

Draco suddenly snapped out of his daze. "What?" he asked roughly.

"You had this weird expression on your face, that's all," Hermione said, not looking at him.

"Yeah, well it was nothing compared to the one on yours," he said defensively. Hermione's cheeks went slightly pink and she turned to look at him again, a glare fixed on her face. Draco sighed. "I was just thinking about how truly amazing you are, Granger." He paused for a moment before continuing, ignoring the frown that had crept up on Hermione's features. "We've hated each other for six years. I suddenly end up on your doorstep, looking close to death. You take me in, help me and care for me when all I've ever done to you has made your life miserable and now you're even showing that you feel sorry for me. It strikes me as ironic that you've also actually, quite suddenly, started using my first name rather than my last when addressing me."

Hermione looked down at her lap, not knowing what to say. "I guess that's just the way I am," she said quietly. "You've also been showing a different side too, Draco."

Draco shrugged. "Yeah, it's a bit hard to insult you as much with you doing all this for me," Draco admitted in a disgusted tone, as if he despised the idea.

Hermione looked up from her hands, a curious expression shown clearly on her face. "Why is it that you hate me?" she asked. Draco raised an eyebrow, caught off guard.

"I have my reasons," he answered after a moment with a light shrug.

Hermione sighed heavily. Had she really expected a straight answer…?


	5. Diagon Alley

Disclaimer: I own nothing

_**Chapter 5**_

Over the next week, Draco became a lot better. He no longer needed to take any of the Pain-easing Potion and most of his bruises were beginning to fade. He and Hermione were being quite "civil" during their long hours together. Though, they still argued quite a lot over the smallest of things. They had received their Hogwarts letters and Dumbledore (to their great relief) had granted them permission to visit Diagon Alley to get all their needed supplies with the exception that they were very careful. Hermione, to her great delight, had also received a note informing her of being the new Head Girl, Harry being Head Boy (which also brought a smile to her face).

So, after a heated argument about her fireplace not being hooked up to the Floo Network, Hermione and Draco were sitting silently on a train as it made its way towards London. Draco kept casting her annoyed glances and kept muttering snide comments under his breath.

"Draco, what is your problem?" Hermione asked irritably, finally having enough.

"If you have to know, Granger," Draco replied with a sneer. "I don't like trains. They're way to bumpy for my liking and I hate it when they lurch."

"Well I'm so sorry, Malfoy, for putting you through this misery," Hermione said spitefully, throwing him a dark look.

Draco looked up at her and fixed her with a glare, which she returned. They sat there like that for several moments, before Hermione gave up and looked away out the window, allowing her features to relax. She stood up to get her bag, which sat under an empty chair about a metre to her left, only to have the train give a great lurch and she went falling into Draco, who, in instinct, caught her around the middle.

Hermione stared into his grey eyes and found herself transfixed by them. The colour seemed to swirl around them and they looked so deep, so endless as they stared into her brown ones. She was aware of how close they were, as his hands absently rested on her hips to steady her. Draco felt an odd sensation run through his whole body at the feel of her and he strangely wanted her to stay there, even if he didn't understand why…

The movement of the train pulling into King Cross station caused them both to come back to rational senses. Hermione's cheeks went a bright shade of red and she abruptly pulled away, both confused and embarrassed by their little "moment".

Together, they got off the train, avoiding each other's eye, and looked around. About two minutes of awkward silence passed as they just stood there, until Hermione decided to speak. "I told you it wouldn't take long to get here," she said to Draco, casting him a small sideways glance.

Draco ignored her comment and started to lead the way out into the busy Muggle street and towards the Leaky Cauldron pub. His thoughts hadn't left the train yet, however. His mind was transfixed on the odd feelings he had felt when she had been as close as she was. When he thought of it, he scowled at himself. In normal circumstances, she would've been out of his grip in a second, and yet, he had held on and she had stayed there! It didn't seem right, or even possible.

His thoughts came to halt when he reached the entrance of the grim-looking pub and entered its stuffy attire. The bar man Tom gave him a small wave, before turning back to a surly-looking man nearby. Hermione stood behind him in the shadows, waiting for him to lead the way to the courtyard and enter Diagon Alley.

Draco cautiously looked around the dark pub, before heading though, out into the small, square courtyard outside, Hermione close behind him. He took out his wand and started tapping the required bricks with it, before stepping back to watch the bricks magically move to the side, revealing the entrance to the brilliant-looking alley. They stepped through and Hermione absolutely beamed. She loved every little part of Diagon Alley, from its cobble-stoned path to its many shops.

Together, Hermione and Draco headed through the groups of many people towards Gringotts bank, where they were to be collecting their money for their shopping ahead. Hermione looked happily around at the shops surrounding them, while Draco cast careful glances at the people, who pleasantly shopped or excitedly shared their buys with friends.

Reaching the towering, white marble building of Gringotts, they headed through the door, into the cavernous and brightly-lit room, filled with its many goblins sitting behind the high counters. They headed over to an unoccupied goblin.

Hermione took a stack of pound notes out of her pocket and placed it on the counter. "I'd like to get this exchanged in wizard money, please," she said nervously, cowering slightly under the goblin's stare.

"We also need to be taken down to Mr. Draco Malfoy's vault," Draco added, placing his tiny vault key on the counter beside the money.

The goblin nodded and set to work. Several minutes later, Hermione had been given a large amount of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts to fill her bag and they were being led down into the deep, underground vaults by an extremely short goblin. They worked their way deeper and deeper underground by a mine cart that was very much like a roller coaster ride, until they reached Draco's vault. Hermione let out a shocked gasp as the door of the vault creaked open, to reveal hundreds upon thousands of gold, silver and bronze coins. She knew the Malfoys were rich, but she had never believed that Draco would have this amount of money in only his possession.

A bumpy cart ride later, Hermione and Draco found themselves heading out onto the front steps of Gringotts, their bags heavy with money. They were about to head off to get their required books when a voice rang out over the crowd of people.

"Hermione!" called the familiar voice of Ron Weasley as he ran towards her with Harry close behind. "Hermione, why didn't you tell us you were coming today? We would've met up with you earlier." He, along with Harry, suddenly became aware of Draco standing beside her.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" they asked at the same time, each with a sneer on their faces.

"That is none of your business, Potter – Weasley," Draco sneered in reply.

Both Harry and Ron looked at Hermione quizzically, who sighed. "It's a long story," she said. "Perhaps we should go and get a sundae and I'll tell you." Harry and Ron cast Draco with dark look. "Yes, he is coming. He has to come." She glanced at Draco, who looked slightly sulky.

"I don't see why they have to know," he muttered to himself as they headed off to Florean Fortescues Ice-cream Parlour, where they each bought a sundae and sat down outside at a shady table. Harry and Ron kept looking at Draco and Hermione with suspicious looks on their faces, causing Hermione to sigh agitatedly.

"I've got a fair idea as to what you two are thinking and you're wrong," Hermione said. "Malfoy turned up near my house a little over a week ago and was extremely injured and hurt. He looked terrible and I had reasons to take him in and help him. Reasons I don't really want to go into because you'd think I were crazy…"

"Hermione, we won't think you're crazy," Harry assured her.

Hermione looked back and forward from Harry to Ron several times before replying in a low voice. "Before he turned up, I had a – I had a dream. I know it sounds crazy, but I saw him getting punished terribly by his father. You might think it was a coincidence, but it was exactly the same and a couple of days after it, I had another dream. Have either of you heard about Narcissa Malfoy – Draco's mother – being killed?"

Both Harry and Ron nodded and cast Draco a look unlike their previous. "We heard," Ron said. "Stories about it all have been in the _Daily Prophet_ since the night it happened."

Hermione nodded. "I saw her getting killed, Ron. I saw everything Lucius Malfoy did to her."

"How is this possible, Hermione?" asked Harry. "How can you have this sort of power? You don't believe in anything to do with Divination and yet, you're having … _visions_."

"I don't understand it either, Harry," Hermione replied. "All I do truly know is that it's happening, but it's no help because it doesn't give me any time to do anything about it."

"Have you informed Dumbledore?" Harry asked.

"Of course she has, Potter," Draco said bitingly. "She had to inform him of me being there at her house for one."

"He didn't say much about it," Hermione said honestly. "He was more concerned about Draco's well-being."

Each of them had finished their sundaes and, after Hermione informed Harry and Ron that she and Draco had to go get their books, they set off for Flourish and Blotts – the book store. Harry walked along beside Hermione, leaving Ron and Draco to an insult-throwing session as they walked slightly ahead of them.

"Hermione," Harry said nervously. "Malfoy hasn't done anything to you has he? I mean, you can't just suddenly trust him…"

"Harry, to be honest, he's been OK," Hermione said, shrugging. "Sure, we still bicker a lot, as usual, but that event in the forest and me helping him like I have been seems to have changed the way he is around me. He seemed to have developed a bit of respect for me."

"He was looking at you in a way that meant something more than just respect before, Hermione," Harry said, throwing her a sideways glance.

"Harry, I promise you that there is definitely nothing like _that_, going on. This is Malfoy we're talking about!" Hermione said in a tone that showed she felt that very idea was absurd. Her mind, however, had turned back to the train and how they had been staring into each other's eyes and she wasn't sure if she was telling the total truth.

"So there's nothing –" Harry said, breaking her train of thought.

"No," Hermione assured him firmly.

They had reached Flourish and Blotts now and they went silent. Draco and Hermione approached the man at the counter and handed him their lists of needed books. The man silently headed off to get the books and Harry pulled Hermione to the side. Draco cast each of them a suspicious look.

"Hermione," Harry said quietly. "I've been wanting to talk to you for a while now and -" He took a deep, yet nervous breath. "I was wondering if you would –"

"Hey, Harry!" called Ron from the other side the room. "It's the new version of _Quidditch Through the Ages_!"

Harry turned and gave him a cold look, causing him to go quiet. "I'll have a look in a minute, Ron," he said, before turning back to Hermione, who was waiting patiently for what he had to say. "Hermione," he said, his voice going quiet once more. "I was wondering if you would go out with me, like, be my girlfriend?" His cheeks went slightly pink and he looked away.

It took a moment for the question to penetrate fully into her mind, but when it had, she was suddenly unsure. For months she had wanted him to ask her that question, but now he had she wasn't all that certain about it.

"Harry," she said after a moment, "I like you a lot, don't get me wrong, but I think I need a little time to think about it. I'm just not sure if it would be right – you're my best friend. I honestly don't want to ruin that."

Harry nodded in understanding, but Hermione suddenly wished she'd actually accepted. Who was she kidding? She liked Harry so much. She wanted to be his girlfriend and have him as a boyfriend and yet, she had just said she "_needed time_"?

"Harry," she said, grabbing his arm as he went to turn away. "Can you perhaps ask me again once school starts. I need time to think over the idea. I do like you a lot, Harry," she assured him seriously.

Harry nodded. He truly did understand. She had said the same thing to Ron when he'd asked her out and she'd ended up accepting in the end. He just hoped she would say yes to him as well … even if it did take a little time.

The man had returned with their books and was handing them to Draco in two separate bags. Hermione headed over and took the bag Draco was holding out to her, before leading the way to the door and outside.

"Where do you two need to go next, Hermione?" Ron asked.

"I need new robes. My other ones are slightly short now," Hermione replied. "Then I have to go to the Apothecary to refill my Potions ingredients kit."

"I have to get new robes, too," said Harry, as they started towards Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions.

After going through the process of having robes fitted to their size, the four of them, with Draco looking both very bored and annoyed, headed off to the Apothecary for their Potions equipment. After refilling their kits, they went off to look in the other shops along the alleyway. Hermione, being the book addict she is, bought a couple of extra books, while Harry bought everyone but Draco a butterbeer at the Leaky Cauldron, before they all decided it was time to head on home.

The train ride back to Hermione's house was a silent one. Hermione kept apologising to Draco about basically ditching him on their little shopping trip, but Draco said nothing until they reached the house and had entered the living room.

"What did Potter ask you in Flourish and Blotts?" he asked roughly.

Hermione looked at him strangely. "I don't see how that's any of your business, Malfoy," she replied, heading into the kitchen.

Draco followed. "He asked you out, didn't he?"

"As a matter of fact, he did, but I didn't say yes," Hermione answered, not looking at him.

"You said no?" Draco said, having slight trouble believing it.

"No," Hermione said, "I told him I needed to think about it."

"I thought you liked him?"

"I do, I just don't know if it would be right of me to say yes. What about our friendship? I mean, I don't want to ruin that," Hermione said.

Draco just walked away. He didn't know why he was questioning her like that. Maybe it was because he had been feeling strange around her since the train ride to London – something that occurred as strange in Draco's mind.


	6. To Hogwarts

_**Disclaimer: i own nothing!**_

_**Chapter 6**_

The rest of the summer holidays passed by uneventfully and soon Draco and Hermione found themselves sitting in the backseat of Hermione's parents car as they drove to London so Draco and Hermione could catch the Hogwarts Express from platform nine and three-quarters. The trip was rather quiet. Draco and Hermione had been less civil since their trip to Diagon Alley, though neither understood why. They had, however, decided that once they were safely on the Hogwarts Express, everything would go back to normal. Hermione would no longer use Draco's first name when addressing him and he would go back to being the heartless person he usually was around her.

The car pulled into a car park outside the entrance to Kings Cross station and they all got out. Hermione's father got them each a trolley for their trunks (Draco had had to buy a new one at Diagon Alley) and, after they had given their good-byes, Draco and Hermione set off together towards the apparently solid barrier between platforms nine and ten. It was really quite simple getting through to platform nine and three-quarters. All you needed to do was head through the barrier dividing the platforms they were now standing between, with the exception that you don't cause too much attention from the Muggles passing by.

Once through, Hermione and Draco found them standing on the extremely crowded and noisy platform with the gleaming scarlet Hogwarts Express train in front of them. Surrounding them, students were talking animatedly with family, or meeting up with friends and classmates. Owls were hooting at each other and cats were meowing. It all gave Hermione an air of happiness, as she and Draco headed over to the train with their trunks and got on to find their friends. Hermione found Harry and Ron quickly and joined them in their compartment, as they said their good-byes to the Weasleys who were assembled on the platform.

Draco wearily turned to go find Crabbe, Goyle and his other friends, only to be stopped by Hermione, who put out her hand and grabbed his arm.

"I think it would be wise if you stayed here until the train is moving, Draco," she said quietly. "This would be the perfect chance for your father to hurt you, you know. He would've suspected that you would be here if you were in a shape like you are now."

Draco gave her a sneer and sighed heavily, realising that she was right, and sat down in one of the chairs in their apartment, away from Harry and Ron, who were casting him with looks of great hatred.

"The moment this train is moving, though -" he hissed, being interrupted by Hermione.

"Everything will go back to how it used to be," Hermione said. "I hate you, you hate me."

Draco ignored her and after several minutes, he was glad to hear the whistle blow and feel the train slowly start moving. He waited until the platform was out of sight and the train had officially started its journey north before standing up.

"Thanks for the summer, Granger," he said, giving her a very small, appreciative smile, before heading out of the compartment and down the train with his trunk, trying to find Crabbe, Goyle or any other friend of his.

The moment he had left, Harry and Ron turned and looked at Hermione with odd looks on their faces. "What?" she asked.

"Well … how much torture did he put you through?" asked Ron. "We know it had to be hard on you – having Draco Malfoy staying in your house."

"To be honest, Ron, it was actually OK," Hermione said with a shrug. "He didn't call me Mudblood once. In fact, he didn't really insult me at all. He made a few mean comments about my hair, but that's – that's all."

"But you didn't have _fun_, did you, Hermione?" Harry asked quickly.

Hermione frowned. "No, not really. The only real fun we had was when we played Monopoly together."

"What's Monopoly?" Ron asked, only to be ignored.

"You played Monopoly with _Malfoy_?" Harry burst out unbelievingly. "Why the hell would you want to do that?"

"Harry, you've got to understand," Hermione said. "We were bored and that was the way we decided to cure our boredom. I don't have Playstations or Nintendoes at my house, Harry. The thing is, it was only Monopoly – not spin-the-bottle or anything."

"What's a Playstation?" Ron asked, curious. He was again ignored.

"Hermione, Malfoy is our _enemy_, you don't play Monopoly or any other sort of game like that with the enemy!" Harry wasn't taking this very well.

"Honestly, Harry!" Hermione said, throwing her hands up in the air. "It was _Monopoly_ for heaven's sake – nothing for you to get all edgy about! You're accusing me as if he and I had played some adult-rated sex game!" Harry's eyes widened. Hermione relaxed and added calmly, with finality in her voice. "It was Monopoly. All that we did was argue about who owned Piccadilly and him stealing money from the bank."

Harry opened his mouth to argue, but changed his mind and shut it again. "Sorry," he said. "I just … I don't know why I reacted that way."

Hermione gave him a mocking smile. "It was only Monopoly," she said amusedly. Harry gave her a slightly dark look, but it didn't stay that way for long. "There's no need worrying – either of you. Malfoy and I are still enemies and that's not about to change. He'll probably come striding in here lazily, sneering comments in my direction."

The words had barely left her lips when the door of their compartment slide open, revealing Draco, with his bolder-sized cronies Crabbe and Goyle right behind him. "Well, well, well," Draco drawled, entering the compartment. "If it isn't Potter and Weasley and yes, of course, the Mudblood Granger."

Ron abruptly stood up and a smirk came to Draco's lips. Hermione, who took note of this, stood up as well and stood between the two of them. Draco watched her carefully for a moment and took out his wand. "I don't see why you're stopping him, Granger," he said softly. "I can easily just cast a little hex or something on you and then I'll have easy access to him."

"I don't think you want to do that, Malfoy," Hermione said, in a voice just as soft as his. "I have a feeling I know a few more than you, after all."

A small, rather unwanted smile came to Draco's lips as she looked at him with the expression she was – both awkward and desirable. It strangely reminded him of their little moment on the train when they had been heading to Diagon Alley. He lowered his wand and looked away, causing a suspicious frown to come over each of the Gryffindors faces. Slowly, he backed out of the compartment and retreated, without a look back at Hermione.

"What was all that about?" Harry and Ron asked in unison, looking at Hermione for the answer.

Hermione swallowed thickly, her mind suddenly confused. "I don't know," she said blankly, staring at the spot in which Draco had been standing. She turned and faced the two of them. Harry had an odd, yet unreadable expression printed on his face and Hermione wished she had some idea as to what it was. Sitting back down in her seat, she muttered again, "I don't know."

The train continued to make its way north. Hermione was buried in _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Seven_, while Harry and Ron were talking about their favourite subject: Quidditch. Around lunchtime, the plump woman who pushed the food trolley came around. They each bought a large amount of sweets to share between them. When Ron became bored and decided to go and find their friends and fellow Gryffindors Dean, Seamus and Neville, Harry, who had been studying Hermione for quite a while, finally decided to bring her attention to him.

"Hermione?" he asked, feeling his insides swirl a little inside of him. Hermione looked up at him and smiled. "Can you come sit here next to me? It'll be a little easier."

Hermione, who frowned, had a feeling that she knew what was going to happen, but she stood up nonetheless and took the seat next to him.

"Hermione," Harry said, his voice very quiet. Hermione swallowed thickly and slowly and absently licked her lips. "I know that you are aware of how I feel, but to be truthful, I don't have all that much of an idea as to how you –" He suddenly stopped as he noticed the way Hermione was staring at him; the way she was still licking her lips and staring at his own. He knew what she was waiting for.

Taking a deep breath, Harry closed the gap between them and allowed his lips to brush across hers. No sooner had she wrapped her arms around his neck and was leaning in for more, when the door of the compartment slid open and they, in reflex, sprung apart. Looking over to see who it was, Hermione saw Draco standing there, alone, staring at Harry with even more hatred than she had ever seen.

"Can I have a private word with you, Granger?" he asked, still glaring at Harry. Hermione looked down at Harry, who shrugged.

"I'll be back in a moment," she told him, before following Draco out into the narrow passageway. Draco turned to her, his facial expression unreadable.

"What was going on in there with you and Potter?" he asked roughly, not understanding why he cared.

Hermione went slightly red in the cheeks. "I don't see how that's any of your business, Malfoy," she replied.

Draco stood there for moment. Hermione waited patiently for what else he had to say. "I saw what I saw, Hermione," he said quietly. "You're going out with him, aren't you?"

Hermione frowned, wondering why he truly cared. "Draco, you know I like him –"

"If you do like him, then why the hell did you say you'd 'think about it' when he asked you out in Flourish and Blotts?" Draco asked rather loudly. Hermione raised her eyebrows. "If you like him so much, than why didn't you just come out and say yes? … Friendship ruined or not."

The truth hit Hermione rather hard. She bit her lower lip and frowned. Why didn't she say yes? The question had been haunting her ever since they'd left Flourish and Blotts that day … but why did Draco suddenly care? It wasn't as though he was her friend. He wasn't Ron or anyone …

Suddenly, her heart did an awkward sort of leap. She was brought back to the image of her and Draco in the train that day on the way to London. The way they had been so close after she had fallen into him, the way it had felt to have him holding her…

Swallowing hard, Hermione backed away from Draco, her eyes wide with realisation and slight fear. She left without a word, biting on her lip and headed back into the compartment. She sat down and picked up _The_ _Standard Book of Spells, Grade Seven_, ignoring the quizzical look Harry was giving her and continued to read.

It was rather dark when the Hogwarts Express came to a halt at Hogsmeade Station. Silently, Harry and Hermione got off to join Ron, Seamus, Dean and Neville on the platform. Together, after greeting Hagrid, who was directing the first years towards the boats for the traditional sailing across the lake, they headed over to one of the horse-less (or rather, Thestral-drawn) carriages that was awaiting them and climbed in. The long line of carriages led the way up the long windy road, through the Hogwarts gates and stopped in front of the entrance of the magnificent castle that Hogwarts was.

They hurried up the stone steps and into the large, brilliantly lit Entrance Hall, with its magnificent marble staircase. The Hall was already crowded with students, all moving into the Great Hall, from which much noise was already heard. Hermione and the boys, however, entered rather quickly and made their way over to the Gryffindor table. Looking up at the ceiling, which was enchanted to look like sky outside, Hermione saw the many stars twinkling down at the Hall as the students made their way to their house tables.

Taking a seat between Harry and Ron at the Gryffindor table, Hermione allowed a smile to come to her lips as she imagined the year ahead. She was Head Girl, Harry was Head Boy; Harry liked her, she liked him – Her eyes had suddenly rested on the Slytherin table, where Draco was talking to Crabbe and Goyle. Or at least, she _thought_ she liked Harry…

Her thoughts didn't move from that single thought all through the Sorting Ceremony or the feast and it was still there when she climbed into her warm, scarlet-laid four-poster bed, ready to get some sleep…


	7. The Single Kiss Potion

_Disclaimer: I've said it too many times now - I own nothing!_

**Chapter 7**

Hermione headed down to breakfast with Harry and Ron next morning, ignoring the conversation the two boys were having. Her mind hadn't really been focusing on the things around her; they were instead back on the Hogwarts Express. The way Draco had all of a sudden become curious as to what was going on between her and Harry greatly confused her. Here he was, stating that the summer had no effect whatsoever on the way he saw her, that they were still one hundred percent enemies and then, just as everything was going back to normal, he went and did something that Hermione couldn't quite put an explanation to. She didn't understand it at all. Why would he care about the feelings that she and Harry held for one another? Why was he so blunt when reminding her about the whole Flourish and Blotts affair, even though she knew he was right?

Hermione mentally sighed as she sat down at the Gryffindor table, next to a nervous-looking Neville. If she liked Harry as much as she thought, then why did she say she needed time to think about it? Even the friend factor shouldn't have stopped her from saying yes…

Professor McGonagall, who was coming around with the new timetables, suddenly interrupted her thoughts. Hermione took hers and looked down the day's column and groaned: double Potions with the Slytherins first – never a pleasant experience.

She finished her breakfast in silence, oblivious to the constant concerned glances from Harry. She left the Hall on her own, telling Harry and Ron she needed to get something from her dormitory and headed over towards the entrance to the dungeon, wanting some time alone. She headed down the dimly lit passage quietly.

She wished her thoughts would become clear to her. At the moment, they were no more than a worthless blur, even though she could identify little parts of it. All together, those things equaled something that seemed very peculiar to Hermione: somehow, Draco and his words were coming between her and Harry, which didn't seem right at all. Draco was her enemy and had been since they'd met, no words that came from his mouth should change what both she and Harry wanted, much less him himself…

An absurd thought suddenly struck Hermione as an image of Draco's pale, still faintly bruised face came to view in her head: maybe she didn't see Draco as an enemy anymore, maybe she saw him as something more than that now. Maybe she was really, truly starting to like him and that was the reason why she hadn't been feeling as attracted to Harry as she normally was. Maybe she was developing a small crush on Draco even…

Her eyes widened and she stopped walking. She couldn't possibly, could she?

Movement to her right suddenly brought her back to earth and she saw the stone wall open to form a door and a tall boy stood just inside of the entrance as he pulled on his robes. Hermione took in the wet, silver-blonde hair and realised with a slightly panicky groan, that it was Draco, though the darkness surrounding him hid the fact slightly. Draco looked up at her and stepped through the door, the wall closing behind him immediately.

"Hello, Granger," he said in an expressionless voice. "I wasn't expecting to see you down here."

"Well, I was on my way to Potions," Hermione said back.

Draco looked up and down the passageway around them. "Why are you alone? Did Potter and Weasley decide they wanted to have their snogging session alone today?"

Hermione's passive expression transformed into a glare. "You know very well that that isn't true, Draco," she said.

"Still Draco, is it? I thought we'd decided on going back to normal – act as though the summer never happened?"

Hermione just stood there, glaring at him, not saying a word. How could she act as though the summer never happened? She had discovered her gift of seeing real things happening through dreams and now she was stuck with it.

"Draco, I can't act as though the bloody summer never happened!" Hermione burst out suddenly. "The dreams – they're not going to stop now they've started and I'm beginning to think it's not possible for me to have good dreams anymore. They didn't stop with your father killing your mother, you know. I keep having these dreams about Death Eaters or Voldemort torturing or killing innocent people and from what Ron and Harry have told me, they truly happened. For all I know, the dream about you may not have been the first as I thought. I had dreams before that, but never were they as vivid."

"Maybe you should go visit Trelawny," Draco suggested, wondering why she was telling him this.

"I'm not going to see that fraud!" Hermione snapped. "At least I'm seeing real things, she –"

"I know," Draco interrupted. "Listen, Hermione, you've got to be having these dreams for some reason. It's only a matter of time before you'll be able to see things without even being asleep and for what I know, you can't stop that. It's a gift – a very rare and powerful one at that and it's very surprising that a Mudblood like yourself has it." He paused for a moment, looking at her face. She looked ready to start crying at any moment. "I'm glad you do, though," he continued in a quiet voice. "If you didn't then I doubt you would've helped me as much as you did."

A smile crept onto Hermione's face and Draco oddly felt his heart skip a beat or two, forcing him to look away. Hermione's next question brought his eyes back to hers, though. "Yesterday on the train, why did you act like you did? I mean, it was very odd and then when you walked in on Harry and I…"

Draco looked her up and down, wondering if she could take the truth. "I don't think Potter's the right one for you," he answered. "He doesn't deserve you. I know that you like him, but something must have caused you not to say yes to him when he asked you out. I tried to make you realise that."

"You did," Hermione said honestly, looked down at her feet. "That thought has hardly left my mind since." She watched Draco, looking at her in content. "We're not truly enemies anymore, are we?" she asked abruptly. "If we were, we wouldn't be talking like this. You wouldn't have wanted me to realise that Harry wasn't right for me and I wouldn't have taken any notice of your words like I have."

Draco opened his mouth to speak, but the sound of footsteps behind them caused him to close it and look around at Harry and Ron. "Hello Malfoy," said Harry in a cold voice, looking between Draco and Hermione suspiciously.

"No need to worry, Potter," Draco smirked. "Me and your little girlfriend here were only having a little chat – nothing to be concerned about."

Harry shot Hermione a look, only to have her smile innocently in response. He looked back at Draco. "I swear, Malfoy, if you hurt her in any way –"

"No need to worry, Potter," Draco said again, the smirk still in place. "I didn't touch Hermione here. We were just having a friendly chat about the holidays, which as you know, we spent together –" Draco paused to marvel the effect of these words – "She's had a few worries lately that I've helped her with."

"Worries?" Harry and Ron repeated in unison.

"That's right," Draco went on. "You know – about all these dreams she's been having."

Harry turned to look at Hermione again. "Hermione, you could've come to us about that," he said, "not him."

"Oh … I just … You guys have other stuff on your minds with Voldemort and all and I didn't want to worry you further with some petty problem of mine about dreams," Hermione said. "It's nothing really."

"But this is pretty serious, Hermione," Harry said, looking at her with a worried expression. He went to continue, but the sound of many people heading towards them cut him short. They joined the small crowd of seventh-year Gryffindors and Slytherins as they headed towards the Potions dungeon. Hermione walked alongside Harry and Ron without a word.

They reached the Potions dungeon, where the door already stood open. They all filed in and took their seats, just as Snape arrived, looking his usual sallow-skinned and hook-nosed self. Hermione sat in the seat beside Ron at the back of the classroom, ignoring the constant glances from Harry.

"As I told you at the end of your last year, you will be studying some of the more difficult potions this year," Snape told the class in his deadly cold voice. Neville Longbottom, a forgetful, clumsy Gryffindor let out a whimper. "One of these potions being the highly difficult and restricted Polyjuice Potion in the later half of the year. But first you have to work on the properties of Love Potions. As you all may know, they are forbidden in this castle, but the Headmaster has said they have to be part of your curriculum." He said this in a tone that suggested he did not agree with Professor Dumbledore. "In this lesson, you will be testing the basic and simple ones - starting with the Single Kiss Potion." He held up a small bottle with a crimson-coloured liquid in it. "I will pull two names out of the hat on my desk. One will place one of their hairs in this potion and pass it to their partner to drink."

Taking a ragged old wizard hat off the desk he held it up and placed a hand in it. A moment later, he pulled a small piece of parchment out of it and scowled as he read the name upon it. "Miss Granger," he said sourly. "Step forward and remove one of your hairs and place it in this bottle."

Hermione slowly stepped forward and pulled a curly hair from her scalp and placed it in the bottle of potion that Snape was holding out. The liquid fizzed lightly and turned clear.

"As you can see," Snape said, his voice still sour, "the potion turns clear and flavourless when ready to be drank. It can be easily added to the drinker's pumpkin juice without them knowing and no difference would be made to its texture and flavour. The drinker would think it normal."

He placed a hand back in the hat and drew a second name. As he read the name upon it, his eyes darted from Hermione to the parchment in his hand, his expression becoming even sourer. "Malfoy," he hissed and the class suddenly broke into whispers.

Hermione felt her breath catch in her throat and she cast a look at Draco, who was standing there with Crabbe and Goyle, his expression emotionless. Close by him, Harry was giving him a glare unlike any Hermione had ever seen on his face. Draco stepped forward and over to Snape, who was beckoning the class to be quiet. Draco took the bottle from his hand without a word and raised it to his lips. Hermione watched him, her heartbeat becoming irregular. She knew what was to happen.

Draco drank down the whole potion and placed the empty bottle on Snape's table. An odd sensation ran through his entire body and he turned to face Hermione fully. Taking in her pale face, as she bit her lower lip in hesitation, he walked closer to her, aware of the classes eyes watching his every move. He stopped when he was less than a foot away from Hermione and bent down and gave her a very light kiss on the lips before pulling away. Hermione looked up into his stormy grey eyes, feeling slightly light-headed. He gave her a small smile and backed away to return to standing next to Crabbe and Goyle, who were looking at him in disbelief – very much like the rest of the stunned class.

After several more tests that involved all different types of love potions and students, they copied a great amount of information from the blackboard. Finally, the bell rang for morning break and the Gryffindors and Slytherins headed off towards the Great Hall to get a snack. Harry and Ron were greatly concerned by Hermione's silence.

"Hermione, you haven't said anything since Malfoy kissed you," Ron said, with a light shudder as he remembered. "Something's the matter and I know it."

"Hermione, is there something going on that you're not telling us about?" Harry asked, looking down at Hermione with a strange expression on his face.

Hermione stopped walking and turned to the two boys. "There's nothing wrong. I've just been drifting off into thought a lot lately."

"But why?" Harry asked. "What's causing you to drift off into thought? Do you have concerns about something? Does it have to do with these dreams you've been having?"

Hermione looked at him. "No, not entirely. I just don't understand how I –" She bit her lower lip. "I just don't understand any of my feelings at the moment. They're all confused and muddled and I can't understand what they're trying to tell me." She continued off up the passage, unaware of Draco standing in an alcove to her left as she passed.

Draco sat on his bed, absently fingering his lips, remembering the conversation he had overheard in the dungeon passageway. He didn't understand what Hermione had said about her feelings. How could they suddenly have become confused and muddled? Could she have been referring to her feelings about Harry? She had, after all, said that he – Draco – had made her realise that there had to be a reason why she had said no to Harry. Had she worked out the reason?

Draco moved uncomfortably. He honestly didn't know why he cared. It wasn't as though he was beginning to have feelings for her… He suddenly felt a tingling sensation on his lips and pulled his fingers away. He had definitely enjoyed that small little kiss, though, but he gathered that was only the effects of the Potion. It wasn't as though the reason he had questioned her about Harry was because he wished he were in Harry's position or anything. It wasn't as though she was on his mind every second of the day.

But he didn't believe all those things were entirely true. He had felt a hint of jealousy when he'd walked in on Harry and Hermione kissing on the train and she had been on his mind a lot lately. He also knew for a fact that the effects of the Single Kiss Potion didn't include the feeling he had to spread through his whole body, wanting to just go back for more, wanting her soft lips to be on his for longer.

Draco ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn't possibly be falling for Hermione, could he?


	8. A Foreseen Kiss

_Disclaimer: i - own - nothing!_

_**Chapter 8**_

_Hermione woke to the sound of footsteps approaching behind her. She brought her head out of _Love Potions and their Properties_ and looked around to see Draco a few metres away, wearing his green Quidditch robes. _

"_Hello," he said, taking the seat beside her and looking around at the eerily silent library. "I had a feeling I'd find you here."_

"_And why did you want to find me, Draco?" Hermione asked, rubbing her tired eyes. _

"_I wanted to talk to you about the other day in Potions," Draco replied._

_Hermione shook her head. "There's no need, Draco. I know you were acting under the potion."_

_Draco took a deep breath. "I know that, but –"_

"_Draco, there's no need to say anything more," Hermione said. "You were acting under the potion and there's no need for you to say sorry or anything. Now, if you have nothing more to say, I'll be going." She stood up, picked up her book and began to walk away. Draco watched her retreat, wondering what to do or say – he hadn't even gotten to what he had wanted to say._

_Coming to a decision, he stood up. "Hermione?" he said, causing her to stop and turn around. He stepped up to her. "I think I'm jealous of Potter." Hermione frowned, unsure of what he was trying to say. He looked at her impatiently and took one final step towards her so they were less than a foot apart. Hermione looked up at him nervously, only to be greeted by his lips crashing down on hers in a sweet kiss. _

_Surprised, Hermione pulled away quickly, looking him up and down, unsure of what to do or say._

Hermione moaned softly as she woke and opened her eyes, the scarlet canopy of her bed coming into view. She slowly sat up and drew back the curtains surrounding her to check the time. It wasn't even seven o'clock yet, but she had a Head meeting with Harry and Professor McGonagall at seven-thirty, so she threw the covers off herself and climbed out of bed, only to have her foot make contact with the hard surface of a think book. Looking down, she saw _When Seeing is Believing: a Guide to Visions and Premonitions_ on the floor next to another, thinner book with the boring title of _Love Potions and their Properties_. Picking up the Love Potions book, she sat back down on her bed and randomly opened it, coming to a page with the heading: _The Single Kiss Potion_.

Staring at the page, Hermione absently raised her fingers to her lips, which tingled as she remembered the feel of Draco's soft lips against them. She couldn't help but allow her thoughts to travel back to the dream she had just woken from. Had it been another vision? Was she going to wake up in the library at some time and find Draco standing there, wanting to talk to her about what happened in Potions – yesterday in Potions? A few of Draco's words came back to her: _"I wanted to talk to you about the other day in Potions." _Evidently, if this was a vision, then it would truly happen in the next day or so, but what was with him wearing his Quidditch uniform? Judging by Harry and Ron's routine, most of the school Quidditch teams didn't start training until late September or early October. It seemed too early to start now … unless he wasn't training…

"It was just a dream," Hermione muttered to herself, but she didn't believe her own words. It felt as though the dream had really happened. She had felt the touch of his lips on hers, she had felt the pleasure sweep through her, she had felt the confusion and thoughts that had run through her mind after his kiss…

Standing up, she decided that she would leave her thoughts until later and in the meantime, try to stay clear of the library at all times when she was tired. She had enough complications in her life as it was; she didn't need Draco to add even more…

Draco sat in his Charms class without a clue as to what he was supposed to be doing. He hadn't really been paying attention when tiny Professor Flitwick had told them about advanced Defense Charms. His mind was on another thing as he stared out the window, where the lake was clearly in view. Hermione had barely left his thoughts for the past day, and yet, he was seeing much less of her. He didn't know why, but he had a strong suspicion that she was avoiding him.

Some of the Slytherins were also becoming suspicious, not only because he always seemed to be away in his own little world of thoughts, but because, at the times he had seen her, he hadn't thrown any of his usual insults and comments at her. He just remained to himself, watching her closely as she passed.

He knew now that he was developing feelings for her, but tried his hardest to conceal them. He spent a lot of his time just thinking about the kiss they'd shared in Potions. The way her lips felt against his, and the feeling of her so close. Inwardly he cursed himself, more than once, for allowing her to get to him this way, but he knew that there was no hope. She'd hardly even done anything to get him to like her this way, minus the fact that she'd basically saved his life. She was a Gryffindor and he was a Slytherin and they usually weren't two that mixed.

He forced himself to believe that the feelings he had were only temporary, that they would be gone in a very short time…

The bell to signal end of class sounded from somewhere inside the large castle and Draco headed out with his bag over his shoulder, feeling he needed a good, long fly around the Quidditch pitch.

Hermione sat at a table in the library, a book set out in front of her. She took a long draught from a mug of coffee, before turning the page of _Love Potions and their Properties_. It was getting quite late and as much as she wanted to go to bed, she knew that she shouldn't, as she was only halfway through writing a report on Love Potions that Snape had given them.

She stopped suddenly as she came to the page dedicated to the Single Kiss Potion and sighed. Just reading about the potion made her thoughts go straight to Draco. It was all too hard to understand. She couldn't like Draco, she just couldn't. They had been enemies for _years_ and then, out of the blue, she was suddenly having dreams about him kissing her and all these new, unexpected feelings for him appear. It just didn't seem to be right.

Her thoughts didn't move away from him, though. Just sitting there and thinking about him caused her to just want the dream to be true. To have him walk into the library right at that moment and have him kiss her. Her lips tingled at the thought and she reminisced, once more on how it had felt to have his lips on them. The way they just softly brushed against them, not allowing her enough time to respond, the way his grey eyes shined as they looked down into her brown ones afterwards…

Hermione's thoughts were so caught up that she didn't even notice that her eyes were drooping as sleep began to overcome her. She unknowingly rested her head on the book in front of her, darkness taking her over as her thoughts continued to circle her head…

Hermione sat up abruptly as the sound of footsteps engulfed her mind. She looked around her to find that she was still in the library and realised she must not have been asleep all that long as it was still brightly lit and the windows were filled with darkness.

Looking down at the book she was using as a pillow, she yawned and closed it, not wanting to look at the page on the Single Kiss Potion any longer. She looked behind her and felt her heart skip a beat as she noticed Draco standing there, in his green Quidditch robes. This was all too familiar for her liking.

"Hello," Draco said, walking over and taking the seat beside her. He looked around at the close-to-empty library before back at her. "I had a feeling I'd find you here."

"And why did you want to –" Hermione started, but she stopped, the dialogue from her dream coming back to her. Draco frowned at her, confused, as she bit her lip. "You wanted to find me?"

Draco, still frowning, nodded. "I wanted to talk about the other day in Potions."

Hermione felt a lump form in her throat. She tried to form some sensible words before replying. "Draco, there's really nothing to talk about," she said. "The kiss only happened because you took that potion –"

"I know that," Draco said. He looked straight into her eyes and Hermione felt suddenly very nervous. "I need to know whether you truly like Potter, because he just confronted me in the corridor, and –"

"Why'd he confront you?" Hermione asked suddenly. This had _not_ been in her dream.

"Answer my question, Hermione, do you truly like Potter?" He had a serious kind of look on his face.

Hermione looked down at the table and shook her head. "No," she said, looking up at him. "I don't like him in that way anymore. Why?"

Draco's expression changed to one of blankness as he looked down at her. Hermione felt awkward under his gaze, and yet her heart pace quickened. She absently licked her lips and looked up at Draco, as he slowly leant towards her, a determined look on his face. Hermione swallowed thickly and closed her eyes as his lips came in contact with hers.

The kiss was soft and rather short. His lips rested on hers for a mere five seconds at the most, before he pulled away to look at her face closely as she opened her eyes. Hermione felt an odd pang in her chest and became unsure as to what to do. She had a strong feeling that she was being watched.

Draco, who was watching her for some type of clue as to how she felt, smiled as she absently licked her lips. She straightened her posture and looked into his eyes. She didn't know what to do or say. It was wrong, yet it felt so good to have his lips on hers again. What was she to do?

Movement to her left caused her to turn her head in that direction, only to see Harry standing there with a painful look on his face. He stared back at Hermione, who felt her heart fall into the pit of her stomach. She looked from Harry to Draco and back again, her thoughts becoming more confused.

Not able to take the tension any longer, she stood up and picked up her book from the table. She looked down at Draco and bit her lip with an apologetic expression on her face. Draco gave a slight sneer and nodded rather reluctantly in reply.

Hermione turned to Harry, who was standing there, still looking mentally hurt. "Harry, I think we need to have a bit of a talk to sort everything out…"


	9. Confessed Feelings

_disclaimer: I own nothing_

_**Chapter 9**_

Hermione sat down at a table in the empty Transfiguration classroom with Harry. Harry, who had been extremely silent during the journey from the library, still looked hurt and abashed as he watched Hermione's every move.

"Harry," Hermione began, looking at him in the eye, "I want you to understand that I like you an awful lot, and that the feelings I have for Draco at the moment are nowhere near as big as the ones I _held_ for you." She paused. "You're my best friend and I don't want something to ruin it and that's why I've been so confused lately. If I went out with you and then we broke up, it wouldn't be pleasant – much like how Ron and I were like after we broke up last year, if not worse. Then there's Draco. If I went out with him, you, Ron and probably every other Gryffindor would disown me. I can't go either way no matter how much my heart wants me to."

Harry, who had been holding onto her every word, finally felt his heart reach the pit of his stomach. "Hermione, who says we _will_ break up?" he asked in a quiet voice. "How do you know that we're just not meant to be together? We've never even tried."

"I just have this feeling, Harry," Hermione replied, with a small, rather guilty smile. "I'm really sorry."

Harry's brilliant green eyes stared into her warm brown ones, as they pleaded for forgiveness. He stood up without another word and broke all eye contact. Silently he left the room without looking back, leaving the door wide open, as tears built up in Hermione's eyes. She gave a small sob and buried her face in her hands, wanting more than anything just to have all her problems and complications to go away and never come back.

"Crying isn't going to do you any good," said a familiar, cold and drawling voice from the doorway. Hermione raised her head and looked around to see Draco standing there, a hard expression on his face. She hated to see that expression on his face. "I gather that you were lying to me earlier," he said harshly, "when you said you didn't have feelings for Potter anymore. And that kiss – it meant nothing. It was just a spur of the moment and it should never have happened." He stopped to study her tear-streaked face, wanting to know what she was thinking.

Hermione's lower lip trembled and she tried to fight a sob that wanted to escape. She didn't know if she could believe Draco's words. She hadn't seen the kiss as "a spur of the moment". She had seen it as something more that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"I don't have feelings for Harry anymore, Draco," she said quietly. "I was telling the truth – or at least I think I was." She let out a great sob. "I – I'm so confused!"

Draco fought to restrain himself from showing any sign of emotion as she buried her face again. He wanted to help, but he knew it best not to.

"I had another dream, Draco," Hermione said, recovering ever so slightly and lifting her face again to look him firmly in the eye. "It wasn't a bad one, though."

Draco tried to keep his expression as straight and emotionless as possible. He looked down into Hermione's eyes, oddly feeling his heartbeat begin to quicken and he tried with all his might to stop himself from feeling such feelings for her.

Bringing himself together, he sat down at a table. "Was it a good one, then?"

"Well," she replied. "It wasn't really good, either…" She looked up at him and bit her lip. "It was really quite like what just happened in the library. Very alike."

"I kissed you in it, didn't I?" Draco's voice became icy cold. He didn't like the idea of these dreams one bit. How come she was able to see things before they even happened?

"Yes," Hermione replied quietly. "You were even wearing the same thing. The only thing that changed it was the fact that Harry confronted you…" She frowned, remembering. "What did he confront you about, anyway?"

Draco sighed heavily and moved uncomfortably in his chair. "He asked me what was going on between you and me. How you've been really distant around him. Paying him hardly any attention –"

"Yeah, well, I have had other things on my mind!" Hermione burst out.

" – He also wanted to know if you still had feelings for him. So I asked you, being curious as well," Draco said. He looked at Hermione carefully. "I think I was jealous of him," he admitted.

Hermione bit down on her lower lip, becoming even more confused. Draco watched her carefully before shaking his head and standing up. He left the room just as Harry had done, without a word or a look back.

Hermione dropped her face into her hands with an agitated groan. Why was everything so confusing and complicated lately?

A whole week passed for Hermione and not once had either Harry or Draco said a word of any form to her. This depressed her greatly and she was often found in the library, reading, or in the Gryffindor common room, staring into the fire with a distant expression on her face. She hadn't had any more dreams, which she was relieved about, but her thoughts and feelings were still as confused as ever.

How could she suddenly like Draco, after all he had said and done to her in the past and she still hadn't worked out what she'd done to make Draco like her, even though she knew the summer had something to do with it. But why her? Why not Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini or any other Slytherin girl? What did she have that attracted him?

That very same question had also been occupying Draco's mind lately as well. He didn't know what made her so appealing to him all of a sudden. She was a Muggle-born, a Mudblood – something that Draco had been brought up to despise. She had a head of hair that reminded him greatly of a dead bush and he could never forget those large buckteeth of hers that she had managed to shrink a couple of years back. He didn't feel anything for girls like that until now and to add even more, she was a goody-goody Gryffindor who would live in the library if she were able. All those things didn't appeal to him one bit. And then there was the phenomenon of her basically saving his life over the summer…

The very thought made him both cringe and make his heart pound within his chest. He tried not to believe that that had been the one thing to make him suddenly want to kiss her like he had done in the library. He tried not to believe that that had caused so many new feelings to surge through his body and come to a rest in his heart, that he was finding her more attractive with every minute. It was all happening too fast…

The day of double Potions came unwanted as the seventh year Gryffindors and Slytherins entered the gloomy dungeon. Snape greeted them with the news that they would have partners for their Love Potions assignment. This sounded okay for some, until Snape said they would be working with the same person they had tested a potion with in their first lesson.

Draco headed silently over to Hermione's table and hastily took the seat beside her. Hermione could see a lot of arguing and awkwardness happening during the preparation of this assignment.

"Each pair is to decide on which Love Potion they will be brewing," Snape said in a cold, lazy tone to the class once they were all seated with their partners. "I want you to write it on a piece of parchment with your names on it and hand it to me by the end of the lesson. In two weeks time, you will prepare the potion and test it." Snape paused here to allow many of the students to groan. "In the meantime, you will do research on your Potion, compile your knowledge into some form of presentation and give it to me two double lessons from now." He looked around at his silent students and let a rather cold smile curve onto his lips at their sulky expressions. "Any questions?" He looked around at them all again. "Begin… And Weasley, I suggest that you don't stare at Miss Brown too much. The effect might damage your _already_ pitiful grade."

Both Ron and Lavender turned bright red in the cheeks.

Draco cast a look at Hermione, as she absently jotted down a few notes on the parchment in front of her.

"So, Granger, what potion are we going to do?" he asked.

Hermione brought her eyes away from the parchment and looked at him. "The Single Kiss Potion," she responded shortly. "It's the simplest and as we've already experienced the effects…" She went slightly red in the cheeks and looked away.

A small smile came to Draco's lips at that and he too looked away from her, feeling his concentration slip ever so slightly back to the kisses they'd shared. He regained the small amount of control he had lost and looked around at the other people in the cold room. Not many of them looked happy. Several were arguing over which potion they were going to do, while others were just sitting there silently, murmuring things every now and then.

His eyes narrowed as they landed on Harry, who was sitting there with Blaise Zabini, staring at Hermione with a longing expression on his face. Draco leant over to Hermione's ear. "Potter's staring at you," he whispered to her quietly.

Hermione felt tingles run through her whole body from the very spot that the warmth of his breath had touched her neck. She turned her head slightly to look at him, leaning in so close to her. The warmth seemed to be rushing from him like he were a well-lit fire. Her heartbeat steadily became quicker as she stared into his grey eyes. She felt her feelings for him raging within her very chest and her gaze moved down his smooth, chiseled face to his lips, which were formed in a tiny smile.

Hesitant thoughts engulfed Hermione's conscious brain, as she tried to decide as to whether to lean in closer and capture his kissable lips with hers. Every part of her was oblivious to the presence around them; all her focus was on Draco, the one person it shouldn't.

"Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger," asked a rather angry and cold voice to Hermione's right. Abruptly, each of them came back to their senses and pulled away, each going pink in the face. They looked up to see Snape standing at their desk. "Might I ask you, for the fifth time, if you have managed to decide on which potion you will be studying?"

"Uh, yes, sir," Hermione said awkwardly, avoiding the professor's icy gaze. "The Single Kiss Potion, sir."

Snape shot a glance at Draco, who nodded and handed over the piece of parchment he had written it on. Snape took it without a word, looking from one to the other.

"Very well, then," he finally said and he turned and walked over to where Harry was sitting with Blaise. Hermione caught Harry's eye and let a guilty expression come to her features. Harry just scowled at her and looked away.

"Still having dreams?" Draco asked her casually, cutting into her new thoughts.

Hermione looked at him and shook her head. "I haven't had any since the one about you and I in the library," she replied. Draco looked at her carefully. "I'll have more, though. I know I will."

Draco continued to look at her closely and carefully, trying to read her distant expression. Picking up her quill, he dipped it into her bottle of ink and jotted something down on a clean piece of parchment. He ripped it off and handed it to her.

"If you have any more dreams – bad ones – come straight to me. All the needed information is on that piece of parchment.

Hermione looked down and read his tidy scrawl.

_Wall between silver and green torches in dungeon hallway. Password's "schlange". Take the left staircase. Dormitory at very top (has "Seventh year" on door)._

Hermione looked up at Draco and smiled. "Thank-you," she said quietly. He just shrugged and picked up the book Hermione had placed on the table in front of them: _Love Potions and their Properties_.


	10. Frightening Confrontation

_Disclaimer: ...I...own...NOTHING!_

**Chapter 10**

Hermione slowly walked along the narrow corridor and came to a stop in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, who looked down at her with a blank expression.

"Password?" she asked.

"_Draco volans_," Hermione replied wearily. The portrait swung forward on its hinges and Hermione clambered on through the portrait hole to the common room. She ignored Ron, who was standing there waiting for her, and made her way up the staircase, which led to the girls' dormitories.

She entered her dormitory and thankfully found it silent and empty. She headed over to her bed and stripped out of her robes and into her nightgown, before climbing into bed. She had only just finished drawing the curtains of her four-poster closed and fallen back onto her pillows when sleep took began to take her over…

Lucius Malfoy's cold, grey eyes glistened slightly with the light of the distant moon sparkling off the lake and into them. His hand remained steady as he raised his wand and pointed it at his only child, who whimpered slightly in fear.

Draco's face was ghostly pale as he looked up at his murderous father with pleading eyes and pain. He sat slumped on the wet shore of the lake, wishing with both fear and hatred that someone would come along and catch his father in his deadly act. He knew there was little hope, though. It was barely two o'clock in the morning and everyone in the castle would be fast asleep, having peaceful dreams, and not worrying about a thing.

"Betraying me isn't going to get you far, Draco," Lucius hissed maliciously. "That act killed your mother and I am not afraid of it doing the same to you."

Draco glared up at his father at the mention of his mother. He felt his hatred and loathing for his father to, if possible, rise several inches.

"I hear from some useful sources that you have been interacting, in a rather friendly manner, with that Granger Mudblood," Lucius continued. "Dear Miss Parkinson even informed me of a certain kiss in Potions. This does not impress me at all. My own son – the shame I feel. You should have known better."

Draco swallowed thickly as his father's grip on the wand tightened and pointed straight at his chest.

"Do you regret your actions, Draco?" Lucius asked, his eyes now blazing. He didn't give Draco a chance to answer. His grip tightened even more. "Unlike the Dark Lord, I am not afraid of Dumbledore. I am willing to kill you under his crooked nose…"

"_Father, please…" Draco pleaded._

"Avada Kedavra!_" Lucius hissed. A wave of green light left his wand and Draco fell, slumped on the ground with his cold, grey eyes, identical to his fathers, wide open and petrified. Draco Malfoy was dead…_

Hermione's eyes snapped open, her breathing coming out unevenly. She sat up and looked around at the blood red curtains surrounding her. She pulled one of them open and looked over to the window, which was dark, the only light being from the many stars that hung in the sky.

She hardly even thought before pulling the covers off her and climbing out. She grabbed a piece of parchment off her bedside table and looked down at it, the writing only just visible in the little light that filled the room.

_Wall between silver and green torches in dungeon hallway. Password's "schlange". Take the left staircase. Dormitory at very top (has "Seventh year" on door)._

She let out a small whimper. What if he wasn't there when she got there? What if her dream had been another vision? She pushed her thoughts away quickly before they got out of hand. She hurriedly pulled on her dressing gown, grabbed her wand and rushed from her dormitory, the piece of parchment still held tightly in her hand. She dashed down the stairs, and into the dark, deserted common room. She hurried on through the portrait hole and managed to exit without waking the Fat Lady, who sat snoring in her frame.

She ran most of the way down to the Entrance Hall, her heart beating fast and the piece of parchment clutched in her hand. She headed down to the dungeons silently and looked around for any sign of a silver and green torch, as she had never seen one down there before.

And then she saw both of them, the flame extinguished and in the middle of the wall Hermione remembered seeing Draco exit on their first day of classes. Walking up to it, she looked around, making sure no one was around.

"_Schlange_," she said quietly. She took a small step back as the wall parted in two, revealing a stone passage with green oil lamps hanging from the ceiling. She entered and headed down the passage, looking around cautiously. She felt very uneasy being in the Slytherin quarters. She came to a stop at a pair of staircases. She looked down at the piece of paper in her now-trembling hand briefly before taking the left one.

She headed up the creaky stairs, still looking around cautiously, and finally came to a stop at the head of the staircase, in front of a door with a plaque that read "Seventh year". She opened the door as quietly as she could and looked around at the four-poster beds that sat around the rectangle-shaped room. Each bed except for one sat with the curtains closed as the occupants snored through their peaceful sleeps. The bed in the far, right-hand corner near the window, however, sat with the curtains on one side drawn wide, revealing a messy, empty mattress.

Hermione's heartbeat quickened even more as she headed over. She only needed to glance at the brand new trunk that sat at the foot of the bed to know whom was missing from the dormitory. The initials _D.M._ shined silver with the moonlight shimmering through the window.

Hermione stared at the letters, wondering what she could possibly do, as images from her dream flashed before her. She didn't allow a great amount of time to think before she dashed from the room, heading for the grounds at break-neck speed.

She arrived at the edge of the lake and looked around, her breath coming out in small gasps. As she headed around the edge, staying well in the shadows, her breath slowing and becoming quieter, the deadly cold voice of Lucius Malfoy grew louder with every slow step she took. She came to a halt as he and Draco came into view.

"Do you regret your actions, Draco?" Lucius asked, causing Hermione to become very, very scared. She didn't know what to do. How could she, a seventeen-year-old witch, possibly stop a full-grown man from killing his own son? How? Hermione's thoughts were cut short as Lucius continued. "Unlike the Dark Lord, I am not afraid of Dumbledore. I am willing to kill you under his crooked nose…"

She had to do something. She just had to! She had to stop Lucius from killing Draco, or at least try… She pulled out her wand.

"Father, please…" Draco pleaded.

Lucius gripped his wand tightly. "Avada Ke-!"

"Stupfy!" Hermione yelled, pointing her wand at Lucius with a shaky hand. She watched as Lucius' eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell to the ground, stunned and unconscious. She stared down at him with both fear and hatred in her eyes, before looking around at Draco, who sat there, staring at her in shock and appreciation.

"Thank-you," he croaked, his stomach giving an odd flip. She had saved his life … again.

Hermione headed over and knelt down in front of him. She placed a trembling hand on his icy-cold cheek. "Are you alright?" she asked. Draco moved slightly to get more comfortable and winced.

"I'm in a lot of pain," he said softly. He looked into her brown eyes. "Another dream?" he asked, knowing there couldn't be any other explanation as to how she knew he was there. Hermione nodded. "What did you see?"

"I saw – I saw him killing you," she answered.

"Is that all?" he asked. Hermione looked down at him meaningfully.

"We have to get out of here, Draco," she said. "Before he wakes up." She nodded her head at Lucius' unconscious body.

"He used Cruciatus on me again, Hermione," Draco said weakly.

Hermione let out a small sigh and sat down next to him. She knew he wasn't ready to go back to the castle. She looked sideways at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure you're alright, Draco?" she asked.

He didn't reply and just looked sideways at her. "Thank-you," he said again. Hermione smiled and wiped away a tear that had formed in his eye. "And I think I'll be fine."

"Draco –" Hermione started, but she stopped as Draco's arm wrapped around her waist.

"Thank-you," he said yet again. Hermione looked sideways to find him looking at her with an expression filled with a mixture of different emotions. Looking into his eyes, she felt the wave of feelings and emotions that had been growing within her over the last month or so sweep through her. Draco stared at her lips with content as she licked them nervously. "Hermione –"

Hermione didn't give him a chance to say anything more. She leant forward and softly placed her lips on his in a soft, tender kiss. She slowly pulled away to look at him, only to have his lips glide down to rest on hers again. He kissed her softly and slowly, enjoying the sweetness of her mouth. Her response welcomed him to glide his arms around her and pull her closer.

He didn't understand why, but this kiss seemed to relieve all the pain in his body and allow him to feel all new and unexpected feelings flood through his burning veins. It seemed as though this had been the exact cure to the downside of his life at this very moment. All thoughts of his father, the death of his mother and his worries about Hermione's dreams had left his mind and they had been replaced with positive things, such as the way he felt for Hermione.

Hermione, on the other hand, had a mixture of different thoughts sweeping through her barely conscious mind. She wondered how they were sitting here with their lips locked together in this slow, meaningful kiss. It didn't seem possible at this moment that they had once, and not so long ago, been no more then enemies.

Slowly, Hermione pulled away and looked him in the eye. "Draco, I think we should go back to the castle now and get you to the hospital wing. You need to clean up a bit and get a good, peaceful sleep." Draco gave a light sigh as she pulled out of his arms and stood up before him. "Here, I'll help you."

She leant down, grabbed his hand and slowly and very carefully pulled him to his feet, where he swayed slightly, gripping Hermione's hand. "Thanks," he murmured quietly as she reached her arm around his shoulders in an attempt to steady him.

Slowly, they made their way towards the castle, unaware of the icy grey stare that was following them…


	11. Triggered by a Kiss

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing**_

_**Chapter 11**_

Hermione couldn't understand why, but over the next couple of days, she began to regret the kiss she and Draco had shared. Not that she hadn't enjoyed it – Hell, it had been one of the best kisses she'd ever experienced, it was just that Draco had seemed distant about it ever since. Hermione didn't know why, but he acted as though none of it had ever happened. He acted cold towards her and even refused to go with her to see Dumbledore.

So right now, Hermione was heading down a deserted corridor towards Dumbledore's office alone, her thoughts of Draco and his odd behaviour becoming confused inside her mind. She was going to see Dumbledore mainly to tell him what had happened the other night by the lake (the murder attempt part, anyway). She also wanted to talk to him about her dreams.

Coming to a stop in front of a rather ugly stone gargoyle, she looked around to make sure no one was around. "_Sugar Quill_," she said firmly. The gargoyle sprung to life and hopped to the side as the wall behind it parted in two. She headed through the entrance and headed up the revolving spiral staircase, hearing the entrance scrap back into its closed position. She stopped at the large oak doors of Dumbledore's office and knocked.

She only needed to wait a moment before the door opened to reveal Dumbledore, with his long, sliver-white beard and hair. Behind him (and Hermione's heart gave a very odd skip as she noticed him) was Harry, sitting at Dumbledore's large desk and staring at Hermione with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Hello, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said kindly. "Why don't you come in and make yourself comfortable? Harry and I were just having a friendly chat about a particular dream he had last night involving Voldemort…"

"Er…" Hermione felt awkward. "Er, I came here to talk to you about something that happened the other night by the lake."

"Ah, Miss Granger, I already know about Lucius Malfoy's attempt of murder on his son," Dumbledore said as he turned and walked back to his desk.

"You do?" Hermione asked, bewildered. "How?"

"I have my sources," was Dumbledore's reply, as his eyes twinkled merrily. He looked at her closely. "Am I right in believing that you're here to talk to me about something else, as well, Miss Granger? Are you still having visions?"

Hermione looked from the aged Headmaster to Harry, who continued to stare at her with that same unreadable expression. "Yes, sir," she answered. "That's how I knew that Mr. Malfoy was going to kill Draco."

The Headmaster nodded. "The power of natural clairvoyance is very unique," he said in a calm voice. "You, someone with hardly any Divination experience –" Hermione saw a small smile come to Harry's lips at this – "are able to see things through dreams, and the power will continue to grow. After a while, you will be able to see the future merely by looking at something. It is different from crystal gazing, as it is not something you can learn through a mere class like Divination. It is a gift."

Hermione stared at the Headmaster and nodded. She looked sideways at Harry, who looked slightly surprised.

"Was there anything else you wished to talk to me about, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked with a smile as his blue eyes still twinkled.

Hermione bit her lip. "What do I do after I have one of these visions? I mean, what if I see Draco being killed by his father again, like I did the other night? I hardly had any time…"

"I shall work something out, as you can very well give good sources of information in one way or another." Dumbledore looked down at her carefully and she understood. She could help them with information about Voldemort, like whom he wished to kill next… "Well, if neither of you have anything more to say, I have to get back to writing this letter to Cornelius…"

Both Harry and Hermione stood up and turned around to leave. They exited out of the office, back down the staircase and out into the corridor together, until Harry pulled out his arm to make Hermione stop. Hermione looked at him quizzically, though she was curious as to what he had to say.

"You're with him, aren't you?" he asked. Hermione frowned, not knowing what he meant. Harry chose to elaborate a bit. "You're going out with bloody Malfoy, aren't you?" Just asking the question hurt him greatly.

"Going out with Malfoy?" Hermione repeated. "Harry, I am not going out with Draco. We've – we've only kissed."

"You've only kissed?" Harry asked, looking deep into her eyes to make sure she wasn't lying.

Hermione thought a moment and nodded slowly. "I thought that maybe something was coming between us for a simple day or so, but then… I don't know…"

"He turned cold?" Harry guessed.

Hermione looked down at her feet and nodded. "The other night, I saved his life and we –" She looked Harry firmly in the eye – "we kissed and I really thought that maybe he had changed, that maybe he really did like me and that it had all been an act earlier, but… Once he was in the infirmary, he acted as though nothing had ever happened and acted really cold… It's all so confusing!"

Harry stared at Hermione's troubled face for a short moment before leaning forward, his lips brushed over hers and he looked at her to see a reaction, only to see her eyes closed. "Hermione?" he said, as her eyes slowly opened. "How much do you like Malfoy?"

Hermione stared up at Harry, feeling her heart beating frantically within her chest. She didn't know the answer to his question. She knew she liked Draco quite a lot, but after that quick little kiss from Harry, she knew Draco wasn't the only one that she liked. Looking up into Harry's bright green eyes, she searched her mind for some sort of response, but nothing came to her. She stayed silent.

"Hermione?" Harry asked after a minute or so. He looked at her questionably. Why wasn't she answering his question? It honestly couldn't be that hard … could it…?

Hermione continued to just look up at Harry as she searched for an answer to his question. How much _did_ she like Draco…? "I don't know, Harry!" she exclaimed finally. She stared up at him and smiled slightly as she absently traced a finger along her tingling lips. She liked Harry, she knew it and at the moment, Draco was hardly even on her mind. Sure, she liked Draco, but at this very moment, in this very corridor, she wasn't sure if it was even possible to like him more than she did Harry.

Before even going over the idea in her mind, her lips were on Harry's, kissing him with a passion, an intensity more powerful than the kiss she had shared with Draco. It was fiery, sweet and meaningful all in one … and yet, something just wasn't right. Something within Hermione said that this was wrong; that what she was doing was not smart. And then, her mind suddenly swam from one image to another.

First she saw herself, dressed in a summer nightgown, outside her house, in front of Draco as he fought to keep his balance and consciousness with his face bruised and bloody. Then, their brief kisses in Potions and the library, and then the one by the lake. Hermione's heartbeat grew harder and harder within her chest, as an odd sensation spread through her body and yet she continued to kiss Harry. She began to feel dizzy as a new image engulfed her mind, this time one unfamiliar to her knowing self.

_Hermione lay sprawled on a bed she slowly recognised as Draco's, wearing only a pale blue skirt and lacy white bra. Draco soon came into the scene, looking down at Hermione's beautiful, yet petite body with both nervousness and want as he unbuttoned his shirt and discarded it to the ground. He carefully situated his body next to hers and placed a soft kiss on her already swollen lips._

This very image continued to swirl around Hermione's mind as the rest of her fell into unconsciousness, limply crumbling in Harry's arms as he looked down at her in both fear and surprise.

**A/N: the first half of this fic uploaded now... the second half is ready to be uploaded too but I don't have the time at the present time... soon...**

**OoC, I know but thats just the way this fic is ... i you wish to read the rest of this fic NOW, go to this link: http/ you'll find this fic as well as the as-yet-unfinished sequel there! **

**I hope you have enjoyed it so far. PLEASE REVIEW!**


	12. A Vision and a Persuasion

**_DISCLAIMER: I own nothing here!_**

**Chapter 12**

Draco bent down and kissed her softly on the lips to help calm her as she trembled slightly on the spot.

"_Another dream?" he asked her lightly, looking carefully into her troubled brown eyes. Hermione slowly nodded. "What happened?"_

"_A young woman was walking through a deserted graveyard, when suddenly, Voldemort jumped out from behind a huge, stone angel," Hermione said, coming close to tears. "He was wearing all black and his face was covered in shadow from the hood of the cloak, but I could – I could still – I could still make out his bright red eyes." Her lower lip trembled violently and she swung her arms around Draco's neck and cried into his shoulder. "He – He killed her!"_

_Draco awkwardly held onto her in silence, not wanting to make her even more upset. As her sobbing slowly ceased, he kissed the top of her bushy head, encouraging her to lift her head to meet his eyes, so he could gaze down at her. _

"_Thank-you for this, Draco," Hermione said, wiping away the tears in her eyes. "I was going to go to Harry and Ron, but I just…"_

"_Shhh…" Draco said, as tears built up in her eyes again. He looked around at all the closed, emerald curtains to make sure his dorm mates were still asleep. "Come and sit down, Hermione; calm down a bit."_

_Hermione nodded and sat down on the edge of his bed. She looked down at the floor and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths. Draco moved his arm so it rested on her shoulders. "The dreams are getting so vivid, Draco," she said, looking up at him. "They're more detailed then they were before; they're more realistic." _

"_Shhh…" Draco said again. He pulled her closer to him and allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder. "Don't think about it. We'll go and tell Dumbledore in the morning."_

_Hermione cast him a gaze full of appreciation and leant up a bit. She rested her lips on his in a gentle kiss for a moment, before pulling away. "Thank-you," she whispered again. Draco gave her a small smile before leaning down to capture her lips with his again. _

He kissed her softly and slowly at first, as though he was not all that sure what he was doing was the right thing, but became more confident as she responded, kissing him back sweetly. His arms encircled her waist, pulling her closer and he slowly and gently guided her down so her head rested on the pillows. He continued to kiss her, the intensity now growing to a fiery passion. His tongue danced with hers and he vaguely knew that this was the best kiss he'd ever experienced. He reached for the hem of the white top she was wearing and pulled it up. He broke the kiss as he pulled it up, over her head, so she was wearing only a lacy white bra on her top half.

"_Draco?" Hermione whispered, catching some breath. She watched as Draco stared down at her, sprawled there on his bed. _

"_I'll be back in a second," he whispered in reply and he left and headed into the bathroom._

_Hermione sunk her head deeply into the pillows and wondered what on earth she was doing. She wasn't ready for this. She still liked Harry. She looked down at herself, wearing the bra and pale blue skirt she had previously fallen asleep in. She wasn't ready for this at all and yet, her body ached for it. What was it that Draco had that no one else did? Even when Harry kissed her, she didn't feel the way she did now, with her heart beating a million times a minute and as though there was fire surging through her veins…_

_Draco returned, looking down at her with a mixture of emotions as he unbuttoned his shirt and let it fall to the ground. He lay down next to her and placed a soft kiss on her swollen lips. They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment and Hermione came to a decision._

"_I really think I should go, Draco," she said, sitting up. "I hope you understand?" Draco gave her a small, understanding smile as she brushed her fingers over his muscular chest. Hermione pulled on her top. "Goodnight, Draco," she whispered, giving him a light kiss on the lips before leaving the dark dormitory and making her way back to her own._

In the hospital wing, Hermione rolled over, muttering something indistinguishable, as Harry and Ron watched her.

"So, what happened?" Ron asked in a whisper.

Harry gazed down at her with a rather worried expression. "I'm not really sure," he replied truthfully. "We were – er – kissing not far from Dumbledore's office and she sort of went all limp in my arms and when I looked down at her, I found her unconscious."

"You were kissing her?" Ron repeated. Harry slowly nodded, his expression rather depressed.

Draco, who sat on a bed at the other end of the infirmary, angrily clenched his teeth as he listened to the conversation while waiting for Madam Pomfrey to give him his check up. He had the great need to punch something, preferably Harry. How dare he kiss Hermione! And how dare she kiss him back!

He gazed at Hermione's form in the bed and felt guilt surge through his body. It was _his_ fault she had kissed Harry back. He had been rather cold to her after the other night, when they'd kissed and not because he wanted to be. His father had come to see him during his second night in the hospital wing and threatened to kill both him _and_ Hermione if he found out any more about the "relationship" going on between them. Now he thought about it, maybe he should've told Hermione about it rather than act as though they were still hateful enemies – then she may not have kissed Harry…

After Madam Pomfrey had checked his few wounds, Draco left the hospital wing, glaring at Harry as he passed by him and Ron, sitting beside Hermione's bed. He'd come back later to see her…

Hermione woke at around dinnertime to find Draco sitting there beside her bed. Her head was oddly pounding and her vision took a while to focus. She smiled at Draco and tried to sit up.

"What happened?" Draco asked.

Hermione looked at him carefully and decided to tell him the honest truth. "Harry and I had just left Dumbledore's office and he stopped me in the middle of a deserted corridor. He asked questions about you and me and I answered truthfully. Then we kissed and this really odd thing happened. My mind was sort of replaying events that involved you and me, starting with when you first turned up at my house over the summer and ending with…" She paused a moment, frowning. "A vision of you and me."

"Another vision?" Draco said. "While you were awake?"

"I think so," Hermione said, nodding. "Dumbledore had only just told me that things like this means my power is growing…" She frowned even deeper. "The thing is, I sort of had this same vision twice. I had it then, while kissing Harry and again while sleeping." She didn't express the fact that she believed that the vision may have been trying to tell her something. It seemed odd that only moments before she and Harry kissed, she had been trying to work out who she liked more, who was better for her and then, when she kissed Harry, she saw visions of Draco flashing before her eyes. Did this mean she liked Draco more, or was it just an odd sort of coincidence?

"What was the vision of you and me?" Draco asked, cutting into her thoughts. Hermione gazed over him.

"I had come to you in your dormitory after having a dream about Voldemort killing someone. I was all shaken and you calmed me, then we – we…"

"We…?" Draco urged. Did she have a sex dream about them? Draco felt his heart beat faster against his chest at the thought.

"We – we kissed, you took off my top and then I left, not wanting it to go any further." Hermione's pale cheeks had gone slightly pink and she looked away. Draco smirked. It wasn't as good a dream as he had been hoping, but it was good enough. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, having a fair idea as to what he was thinking. "It wasn't a sex dream, Draco. Nothing close to one." Draco's smirk broadened and she glared back at him.

A short silence followed this, as Draco tried to form what he wanted to say into words Hermione would understand. "My father," he said finally, causing Hermione to look away from the window across the room and into his now-serious eyes. "My father came and saw me while I was in here and confronted me about the whole 'you and me' issue. He must've seen the kiss the other night. We weren't very careful – kissing like that in front of my apparently unconscious and highly murderous father – he could've woken and saw us without us knowing and then acted as though he was still unconscious…" Draco took a deep breath before continuing, avoiding Hermione's eyes. "He said that if he finds out anything more is going on between you and me, he'll … he'll kill us both."

Hermione stared at Draco. "He said he'll – he'll _kill_ us?" she repeated in disbelief. "Why didn't you – why didn't you inform me of this earlier?"

Draco felt a pang of guilt again. "Because I didn't want to worry you and instead I – I was all cold towards you, acting as though nothing had ever really happened between us. I'm sorry about that by the way." He was still avoiding her eyes.

"Draco, look at me," Hermione demanded lightly. He slowly brought his gaze to land on hers. "This is really serious," she said. "If you had told me, then I would've gone to Dumbledore straight away. That day I did go and see him, he said he already knew about his attempt of murder on you, but he needs your story, Draco and you need to tell him exactly what his threats were. Your father may not be Voldemort, but I'm sure Dumbledore will use as much of his power as he can to stop your father from doing everything he's doing. He's a Death Eater, Draco. A highly _dangerous_ Death Eater."

Draco gazed deep into Hermione's serious eyes, knowing she was right. "Fine, we'll go straight after you're allowed out of here," he said. "Pomfrey said you could leave once you were awake and checked over by her. She found nothing out of the ordinary wrong with you while you were asleep, so…"

He stood up and headed around the bed to the closed door of Madam Pomfrey's office. He knocked upon it twice until the door opened to reveal the matron, who seemed overly pleased to see Hermione awake.

After giving her a quick checkup, Madam Pomfrey allowed Hermione to grab all her stuff and leave the quiet infirmary, Draco by her side.

They headed straight for the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

"_Sugar Quill_," Hermione said firmly and the gargoyle hopped aside as the entrance was revealed. She looked at Draco, who stared at the statue in amazement. "There are some privileges with being made Prefect or Head Girl, you know," she said, as they headed on through and stepped onto the revolving spiral staircase.

"Obviously," Draco said. "I usually kick that gargoyle every time I pass it. I never knew it was the secret entrance into the Headmasters' office.

Hermione gave him a smile as they reached the top of the staircase and knocked on the large double doors, ready to see the Headmaster.


	13. Dumbledore and a Needed Choice

_**DISCLAIMER: Again, I tell you that I own nothing!**_

_**Chapter 13**_

Dumbledore appeared at his office door with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. He invited them inside and they each took a seat in front of the large desk. Draco, who had never been in the magnificent office before, was looking around frantically at everything from the Sorting Hat sitting behind Dumbledore's desk to Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, who sat on his golden perch, sleeping.

"What is that I can do for you?" Dumbledore asked them kindly.

"Well, you see sir, Draco wanted to give you the full story on what happened on the night his father tried to kill him as well as something his father has said that's more… _recent_," Hermione said, looking at Draco.

Dumbledore also turned his gaze so it rested on Draco, who moved uncomfortably before launching into his story. He told him everything that he could remember his father saying, about the way his father kept tightening his grip on his wand right from the beginning, about Hermione saving him just in time. He even told Dumbledore about what was going on with him and Hermione to give him a better idea of the situation.

"… and then the other night, he came and saw me in the hospital wing," Draco said. "He said that he'd seen exactly what Hermione and I were up to and then he – he threatened that if he found out about anything more happening between us from then on, he'd – he'd kill us both."

A small silence followed this, as Dumbledore gazed at them with a look of understanding. "I," the Headmaster said at last, "will do what I can with my connections with the Ministry of Magic and I will be sure to keep an eye on the both of you – organise some sort of protection to follow you at all times. Lucius Malfoy is a powerful wizard … _and_ a Death Eater. The fact that he is the father of a student here makes it harder for me to be able to restrict him from entering this castle, but he is a danger to all those here - from myself to the House-elves. It is my belief that he isn't only after you two; he is after Harry as well. Voldemort may have sent him…"

Draco and Hermione both nodded. Dumbledore was most likely right, as he always was.

"Is there anything more?" Dumbledore asked, gazing gravely at them other his half-moon spectacles. Both Draco and Hermione shook their heads and stood to leave. "I will be sure to follow up on what I said as soon as possible. In fact, I may write a letter to the Ministry right now."

He smiled warmly as Draco and Hermione nodded before leaving and heading back down the revolving spiral staircase, wanting to head down to dinner.

Draco pushed open the doors of the library and headed to the back of the large room, where he found Hermione engrossed in a thick book that sat in front of her. She looked up when he took the seat beside her and smiled happily.

"I think I've found the perfect book to work from!" she said cheerfully. Draco smirked ever so slightly at her shown excitement, before looking down at the book that sat in front of her. "It's called _Kissing Potions_ and from what I've read from it so far, I think it'll have all the information we're after. Snape said last lesson that we also need to find and supply our own recipe for the Potion, as he won't supply it for us, and this book has the perfect one for it. A lot of the other ones I found used some substitute ingredients rather than the original ones. This one, on the other hand, has both the original _and_ the substitutes listed!"

Hermione took a deep breath as she finished and looked at Draco to see no more than a dumbstruck expression on his face. "I've also been thinking about the way we're going to present the project and I think a poster of some sort or another would be both the best and easiest. That is of course if you wish to present it that way. Any way is fine with me, really, I –"

"A poster is fine, Hermione," Draco cut in. He looked at her carefully, an odd expression on his pointed face. "When it comes to school, you are a lot more organised and enthusiastic than I thought." Hermione's smile faltered and Draco smiled. "That's not a bad thing, though," he assured. Hermione's smile faltered even more.

"You think I'm too – too organised?" Hermione asked, feeling her heart fall slightly.

"No, I just…" Draco started, but he didn't know what to say. "You're … you're just different from other people I know. You're very … _enthusiastic_ about your schoolwork and I don't mean that as a bad thing. I just never expected you to be such a … You're so _ambitious_."

"Yes, well, that's just the way I am," Hermione said with a shrug. She had taken his comments as something of an insult. "I'm Head Girl for Merlin's sake, I've been like this all my life and for the time you've known me you've seen that. A lot of my friends say that I've lightened up a bit, but now you're basically saying that I haven't changed one bit! Is –"

Draco lent forward and rested his lips on hers in a gentle kiss in an attempt to quiet her. "As I said, you being the way you are is not a bad thing. I like the way you are and I know I haven't shown it over the years, with me insulting you etc., but I always found your enthusiasm and brains as something I admired. You have lightened up, yes, but that still doesn't change the way I see you."

Hermione stared at him, not knowing exactly how to take this news. Ever since she had met him, he had insulted her for her "enthusiasm and brains" and yet, now he's telling her that he had always _admired_ that fact about her? It didn't make much sense.

"I like the way you are," Draco whispered, leaning forward and resting his lips on hers again, this time kissing her deeper. It was only a short kiss, though, before he pulled away and looked around. "I better be going," he said, grabbing his bag from the floor. "Crabbe and Goyle want me back in the common room as soon as possible to help them with our Transfiguration homework." He stood and looked down at her. "I'll meet you in here tomorrow at the same time, then?"

"Yes, I guess so," Hermione replied. "Remember to bring parchment and different coloured ink." Draco nodded, bent down to kiss her cheek and left the library silently, leaving Hermione alone in there with Madam Pince.

Come dinnertime, Hermione was still in the library, her quill scrawling information on the Single Kiss Potion down on some parchment, with _Kissing Potions_ resting on the table in front of her. She didn't hear the library doors open, as Harry stepped inside.

Harry's eyes scanned the virtually empty library, spotting Hermione at the back, deeply engrossed in her work. He headed over to her and took the seat Draco had previously left some three hours ago.

"I've been looking for you," he said, making her jump. Even though he had sat down next to her, she hadn't noticed him. "It was sort of stupid of me not to look here first. I looked everywhere from the Astronomy Tower to the dungeons. I was beginning to think that maybe Malfoy had kidnapped you."

Hermione smiled at him. "Draco wouldn't kidnap me … Or at least not without leaving some sort of sign that he had," she said.

Harry looked at her face – she looked so content. "I wasn't talking about that Malfoy, Hermione," he said. "Dumbledore told me in a recent meeting I had with him about Lucius Malfoy's threats and stuff. I sort of feel sorry for Malfoy now – having a father that treats you like absolutely nothing; threatening to kill you and the person you love most."

"Draco doesn't love me, Harry," Hermione said, in a voice that said that she thought it was clearly obvious.

"I think he might be in love with you, Hermione, or at least close to being," Harry said with a sideways glance at her. "It's not hard to fall in love with you."

Hermione stared at him. Did Harry just as-good-as say that he _loved_ her? "Harry, I–I'm pretty sure that Draco doesn't _love_ me," she stated blankly.

Harry gave her a small smile and raised his hand so it rested on her cheek and softly stroked it with his thumb. "You've always been oblivious to things that involve people having strong feelings for you, Hermione," he said. "First it was Ron, and then me, and now … _Malfoy_."

Hermione gave him a light slap on the shoulder. "That's not true!" she said playfully. "I was aware of the feelings Ron held for me … even before he was!"

Harry slowly nodded. It was true. Ron had been completely oblivious of his feelings for Hermione and didn't notice them until she made him – by screaming shrilly about his evident jealousy. Harry smiled as he remembered it.

"That makes no difference," he said back eventually, after he'd shifted out of his thoughts of Hermione yelling at Ron. "You could hardly tell that I liked you as much as I do… Then again, Malfoy coming into the scene may have had an effect on that…" A look of inner pain came over his face and he looked away from her, as if it hurt him to look at her any longer. "I just wish you'd finally realise who you liked more, instead of playing this little game between us."

Hermione let out a small cry in shock. "Game? I don't see this as a game!" Hermione claimed. "I just can't work out who I like more. My mind keeps switching from one to the other and I honestly can't help the fact that I like both of you."

Harry sighed agitatedly. "So you keep saying," he said. "But Hermione, this is _Malfoy_ we're talking about! I know you think he's changed a lot since what happened over the summer, but please, the guy was so – so nasty to you the whole time before that! Can you honestly put all that behind you and suddenly have a relationship with him?"

Hermione's eyes filled with tears. She knew he was right, but right now, she didn't care. She liked Draco – there was no doubt about it. The fact that he had been so nasty for all the years before now didn't really matter for her anymore. She knew only one Draco now and that was the one who showed he cared, the one that she could talk to, and the one she was falling in love with.

But still, Harry had all those qualities as well and she felt the same way towards him. She didn't want to have to choose between them, but she knew she had to. She was playing a game and one of them had to win. Draco, the boy who used to live to destroy her, or Harry, her best friend and the person she had the most trust in?

Old images flashed before her eyes as her thoughts fought to find some sort of answer. She saw images of her and Harry, talking and being no more than friends; and Draco, as they argued and then, in more recent times, kissed with a passion Hermione was only familiar with when it came to him. Her mind filled with thoughts and as dizziness overwhelmed her, she was glad to be sitting down.

_Hermione lay sprawled on a bed she slowly recognised as Draco's. She was wearing only a pale blue skirt and lacy white bra. Draco soon came into the scene, looking down at Hermione's beautiful, yet petite body with both nervousness and want as he unbuttoned his shirt and discarded it to the ground. He carefully situated his body next to hers and placed a soft kiss on her already swollen lips._

Hermione closed her eyes as her sight was filled with no more than a bright white light, as though she was looking straight at the sun. She could distantly hear Harry speaking, but his words were indistinguishable. Then the image of Draco fully engulfed her senses and it didn't take her long to truly understand. Her mind slowly became clearer, the dizziness ceased and she opened her eyes to see Harry's worried face hovering over her. She was lying flat on her back on the floor, and yet, she couldn't remember how she'd gotten there.

"Draco," she murmured, ignoring Harry as he placed a hand against her sweaty forehead. She watched with a solemn expression on her face as Harry looked into her eyes with an odd expression on his face.

"Wh-What?" Harry said, his voice choked.

"I know this sounds strange, Harry," Hermione said, carefully sitting up, "but the other day, when we were kissing, after I'd been trying to decide between you and Draco, I had a vision about Draco and I. At the time, I didn't see much of it. Sure, I thought it was odd, with me kissing _you_ at the time, not Draco and I did wonder about it, but I didn't quite understand it truly until now. As I sat there, with you, trying to work out whom I liked more, who I would be best with, I had that exact same vision and I realised." She paused and gave him a false, apologetic smile as he sat there, looking his hurt self. "I realised that the vision was trying to tell me something. I think it was trying to tell me that Draco's the one I should be with – not you."

Harry looked down at his hands, trembling in his lap. "Are you sure, Hermione?" he asked quietly.

Hermione bit her lip for a moment before answering. "I think so," she replied. "The timing of this vision occurs at the same time I wonder about who to choose and I don't think it's just a coincidence. It's odd, I know, but that's what I believe." She looked at Harry with an expression full of nothing more than apology. "I'm really sorry, Harry."

Harry looked away entirely and Hermione decided it would be best not to say anything more. She knew she had broken his heart and it hurt herself to believe it. With one last look at him, she stood up, packed up her things and made her way out of the library, wondering if what she'd just done had been for the best…


	14. Dream Clairvoyance and dejavu

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own a single thing to do with Harry Potter ...I wishI did but I did but I don't ... I only right fanfiction about him becuase I'm the biggest fan and I do this for fun, ok? Just don't steal the fic like one girl did... glares at some girl named Kim**_

_**Chapter 14**_

Draco walked through the shelves, looking at the thousands upon thousands of books that lined them, as he waited for Hermione to arrive. He entered a new section of the shelves and stopped at a shelf, which had a sign saying "Clairvoyance" hanging above it. He ran his forefinger along a line of books about visions and then to some dedicated to the subject of dreams.

He pulled several of the books off the shelves and randomly flicked through them, thinking of Hermione. He didn't find anything of great interest, though, until he opened _From Dreams to Reality_, a book that looked virtually new, its cover and pages well-kept and undamaged. Interested, he placed the other books back on the shelf and exited into the open area of the large library, the book in his hands.

He took a seat at the table he and Hermione usually sat at and opened the book once more, scanning the contents page before proceeding to the first chapter: _Of Clairvoyance_.

_The power of clairvoyance is a gift that can be either gained or learnt. Clairvoyance in dreams, however, is a gift that can only be gained naturally and cannot be gained through study or practice. It is a rare power that is often passed down through bloodlines, or passed on through what they call Enchanted Inheritance_ (turn to page 156 for more details)_, or spells/curses. _

Draco stopped there, becoming quickly bored. He didn't want to know how Hermione had _gained_ this gift; he wanted to know more about its growth. Turning back to the Contents page, he ran a finger down the page and came to a stop at _Chapter 5: The Growth_. He flipped quickly to the page and began to read.

_The power of Dream Clairvoyance can grow at varying paces. For some the effects of the power can begin at the moment of their birth and develop slowly or come into effect later on in life (i.e. their teenage years) and develop more quickly. Either way, the effects of the gift usually begins with the occasional _"Dream of Reality"_ which takes place either after or at the same time as the real thing. As the gift develops, the dreams become more regular and soon begin to take place_ before _the event takes place in reality._

_At times of questioning during the development of the gift of Dream Clairvoyance, you can be told through a vision if you are making the wrong choice, whether awake or asleep. Some side effects of this occurring can include unconsciousness, in which you may see your vision more elaborately and full as well as vomiting, fits, and the highly rare and unfortunate death._

_As time moves on, the development of this wonderful gift can continue in different ways and can sometimes even just stop due to lack of power and confidence. Some find they are able to see visions and premonitions while awake as well as while they're asleep and they become able to control them better. Others find that their gift has developed to its full state in which you are able to use everything that makes up Divination: Reading tea leaves, the orb, Tarot cards etc., to a full and easy state. Others find that their gift stops developing all together at the first and main effects of Dream Clairvoyance, though they are usually able to control them…_

Draco frowned. This was all very confusing and he wondered whether the book in his hands was truly reliable. He felt kind of sorry for Hermione, as she couldn't really know exactly when her gift would stop growing or _where_ it would stop growing, for all she knew, for all Draco knew, she may very well be one of the world's greatest Diviners in years to come.

But what he'd read still hadn't answered one of his questions. Could a vision perhaps come out to be false somewhere? Could she perhaps see things that may not happen and yet the rest of the dream come out as real?

Suddenly, Draco jumped slightly. It seemed that the book could read minds or something similar, because as soon as that thought crossed his mind, the books pages began to fly quickly until it reached page 224: _False Occurrences in Clairvoyant Dreams_.

_On the odd occasion, the "Seer", as you may call them, will see an odd occurrence in a dream. For example, you may be walking through a large rose garden and sit down to talk to the one you hold intimate feelings for and end up kissing. When it happens in reality, you may be doing exactly the same, but you never end up kissing the person. This occurs because your mind, feelings and heart can have an effect on your dreams, vision or not. You might want to kiss them, but then, when it does really happen, you don't, because you either don't feel its right, or you're scared, or you feel the other doesn't want it. Ordinary dreams and wishes can co-inside with Clairvoyant Dreams, so the vision is not entirely real._

Draco raised an eyebrow and nodded to himself. That made sense.

Closing the book, he looked down at his wristwatch and sighed. Hermione was nearly ten minutes late. Where was she? His question was answered almost immediately as the doors of the library swung open and Hermione entered, looking slightly flushed in the cheeks and breathing deeply as though she had ran here. She hurried over to his table and sat down.

"I'm really sorry I'm late. I would've been here much earlier if Professor Dumbledore hadn't interjected me," she said, catching her breath. "He took me to his office so we could talk about all the precautions he's put into place because of your father. He's informed the Ministry of Magic about the whole situations and they're organising a whole bunch of things. Professor Flitwick has enchanted the doors to recognise your father, like they did with Sirius back in our third year, so he won't be able to get in through there. Dumbledore also said something about security trolls and alarm pixies. They've also fixed spells and charms on the windows and the suits of armour have been enchanted to attack him if he does enter the castle."

Draco nodded and began to pull out all the things they needed to work on their Potions assignment, which was only half done and due in less than a week. Almost immediately Hermione set to work on the poster. Draco highly admired her enthusiasm when it came to her schoolwork and watched her for a couple of minutes before starting to do some as well. They hardly ever spoke and by the time the clock at the far side of the library said five to nine, they were nearly almost finished the theory part of the project.

"I think we only need to meet here again tomorrow afternoon for an hour or so and we'll have it done," Hermione said, as they walked out of the library and headed in the direction of the staircase.

They stopped when they reached the marble landing and faced each other. "What time do you reckon, then?" Draco asked with a sigh. Hermione smiled.

"How about straight after lunch?" she suggested, looking up at him. "That'll give us plenty of time." Draco nodded, staring down into her brown eyes.

"What does Pot–" He stopped in mid-word and looked around at the corridor behind them, frowning. He could've sworn he had heard footsteps. Turning back to Hermione, a frown on his face, he looked into her eyes again. "What does Potter think about us spending so much time together?" he asked, curious.

Hermione bit her lip. She had yet to tell him about what she had realised and told Harry and what was going on with the two of them now in an attempt to make everything slow down a notch. Draco, however, kept bringing him up, as though he wanted her to say something along the same lines as she had said to Harry. She couldn't bare it, though. She wasn't ready to discuss her newly found prophecy to him.

"Oh, he's – errr – acting the same as he has been all the time lately," she lied with a shrug. "Extremely jealous."

Draco frowned and nodded. He could tell she didn't want to talk much on the subject of Harry Potter, and inwardly and very vaguely wondered why. "Well, anyway, I should be –" He stopped again as he heard the same, slow footsteps heading down the corridor. He turned his head again and looked around, just in time to see a door some fifty metres down the corridor close.

Looking around at Hermione, who was watching the scene closely, Draco began to edge towards the door, curious as to know who had entered the room. He heard Hermione following close behind him, but didn't care. Coming to a stop in front of the door, he noticed that it was no more then a deserted classroom. Frowning deeply, he turned the doorknob and slowly and carefully opened the door, Hermione now standing right behind him.

The room was silent and empty, nothing but dust within it.

Frowning even deeper, Draco turned to look at Hermione, who was breathing slightly deeper than usual, her eyes scanning the room carefully as she bit on her lower lip. She didn't express the thought that was running through her mind to Draco, but as they moved away from the door, she wondered if Harry had in fact been spying on her and Draco under his Invisibility Cloak and decided to hide in a classroom before they left. Or perhaps it was someone other than Harry…

_Charmina Vane, a young woman in her mid-twenties, walked slowly through the eerily dark and quiet graveyard. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of her sobs as she had just visited the graves of her dead twin daughters Lyarlee and Hannah. She rounded a corner into a different isle, towards a large, stone angel at the end of it. She wiped her eyes on a flowery handkerchief, trying to rid them of her tears and blew her nose._

_She froze in the one place as she heard the shuffle of feet and the dragging of a cloak along dirt. Looking ahead in the dark, she pulled her wand from the inside of her scarlet robes and raised it with a shaking hand. She took slow steps forward to where she had heard the sounds, willing herself to be as calm as it was possible to be in a situation like this. She neared the stone angel, her eyes and ears alert, though it was hard to see through the darkness._

"Lumos_," she whispered. __The end of her wand lit, sending a narrow beam of light over the dry, dusty dirt, the yellowing grass and the old, cracked gravestones, her heart beating three times faster than its usual pace._

_Suddenly, her breath caught in her chest, as a tall, dark, cloaked figure casually walked out from behind the stone angel, a cruel, evil smile on his shapeless mouth. His eyes glowed bright red in the dim light and Charmina froze where she stood._

_Lord Voldemort raised his wand with a chillingly steady hand and pointed it at Charmina's chest. "_Avada Kedavra!_" he shouted into the strangled and eerie silence. Charmina Vane fell to the ground, her limp body causing an odd_ thump _on the dusty ground. She lay there dead, with her eyes wide with shock, fright and fear._

_Voldemort stood, his wand still raised, looking both satisfied and triumphant. After a moment, his face split into an evil grin and the numb silence was filled with his heartless, selfish and highly cruel and evil laugh, as horrible as it was._

Hermione sat bolt upright on the couch, a cold sweat trickling down her forehead and her breathing heavy and harsh. She looked around her, making sure that she truly wasn't in a deserted graveyard, with no Voldemort laughing with an innocent young woman dead at his feet and saw, to her relief, the dark surroundings of the Gryffindor common room.

She ran her hand through her messy hair and looked down at herself. She was still wearing the pale blue skirt and white top she had worn during the day, not having had the chance to go upstairs to her dormitory to change into her night things before she had fallen asleep. She looked up into the dying fire and sighed. She had to tell someone about her dream. That woman – Charmina Vane – was in danger. But whom should she tell? She knew Dumbledore should be her first choice, but he was probably asleep and she didn't feel confident enough to wake him.

_Draco_, she told herself. She'd tell Draco and then, maybe, see Dumbledore in the morning.

Standing up, she headed straight to the portrait and climbed on through and out into the corridors, fortunately not waking the Fat Lady in her process. She crept along the corridors and down the stairs, keeping well into the shadows as a precaution not to be seen by anyone taking a midnight walk. She successfully descended the last marble step of the staircase into the Entrance Hall and hurried off towards the entrance to the dungeons. She walked quietly through the dimly lit and cold corridors until she came to the familiar silver and green torches. Standing in front of the wall between them, she greatly hoped the password hadn't been changed.

"_Schlange_," she whispered. Almost immediately, the wall before her split in two and she entered the cold, stone dungeon that was the Slytherin common room. She headed across it to the staircase on the left and headed up it. She came to a halt in front of the door with the plaque that read "Seventh year" and turned the doorknob. She entered the dark room with caution, only to hear the sound of shuffling feet coming from a far corner. Looking over carefully, she saw a head of silver-blonde hair shimmering with the light from the moon coming in from the open window close by.

She smiled weakly, glad that Draco was the one awake, not one of his dorm-mates. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, still in his day clothes. She entered the room fully, closing the door quietly behind her. She headed quietly over to Draco, who, noticing that something was wrong, stood up immediately and stood directly in front of her.

She suddenly became aware that she was trembling on the spot as she looked up into Draco's caring and worried eyes. He bent down slightly and let his lips rest on hers for a moment in an attempt to calm her. "Another dream?" he asked quietly.

Hermione froze ever so slightly as these words exited his mouth, struck with the sudden feeling of déjàvu. This was much too familiar to her…

**A/N: There we go - another 3 chapters for the selection. I was going to add more but from chapters 15-22some quick editing is required so it all makes sense to you lovely readers of mine. PLEASE REVIEW!**


	15. Indecent and Untimely Arrival

_**DISCLAIMER: nothing is owned by me!**_

_**Chapter 15**_

Draco kissed her, softly and slowly at first, before the passion between them built up. Hermione let out a soft moan of pleasure and ran her hands through his hair before they came to a stop around his neck, pulling him even closer. Draco's arms rested around her waist and slowly guided her down onto his rather messy bed, her head coming to a rest on the fluffy pillows. He situated himself on top of her, vaguely hoping she didn't find him too heavy.

Hermione released another muffled moan as his hands traced over the bare flesh of her flat stomach as he pulled her top up and over her head, revealing her lacy white bra. He broke the kiss to look down at her, his grey eyes shining in the dim light there was.

"Draco?" Hermione whispered as some breath filled her lungs. She stared up at him, watching a mixture of various emotions flash in them. Passion, desire, want, hesitation and something that made her heart beat even faster within her chest: love.

Draco didn't reply, he looked around the dark room, at the few beds, their hangings closed and their occupants snoring. He looked back down at Hermione, who moved ever so slightly beneath him, clearly slightly uncomfortable due to his evident hardness.

"I – I'll be back in a second," he whispered back. Hermione nodded and he gracefully climbed off her and headed into the bathroom, where he closed the door and leaned his hands against the basin, staring at his reflection in the mirror.

His breathing was still ragged and his chest was swelling with a sensation he had never felt in all his life until now. He let out a small groan as he looked down at his aching groin area and just wished he could calm his feelings, calm his desire, and hopefully coax this unwanted erection down. Hermione, being one to take so much pride in herself would most likely become scared of it … and scared of him.

He ran a slightly shaky hand through his hair. What should he do? Go back out there and continue kissing her and hope it doesn't go too far and scare her? Or just end it here with nothing else to happen?

He moaned as the image of Hermione lying on his bed wearing only a bra on her top-half swam back into view and he felt a strong jolt of energy in the region of his groin. His body was not going to allow him to let it end here. He needed Hermione like he was a tree that needed her, the water that would let him survive.

Coming to a decision, he exited the bathroom to find Hermione sitting up slightly on his bed, the sight of her swelling breasts heaving within her bra causing his heart to once again start beating rapidly within his chest. How much he wanted to remove that small piece of fabric… He stared down at her cautiously as he undid the buttons on his shirt, which was sticking to him slightly in places due to sweat. Hermione watched with uncertain content as he discarded the white cotton to the floor and he slowly, sexily approached her and lay down on the bed beside her.

She let her eyes roam over his bare chest and downwards, coming to a stop at the sight of his tented pants. She looked up quickly into Draco's eyes, not having much of a clue what to do or say. Before she could say anything, however, he placed a single finger on her lips.

"Shhh…" he said for the third time that night. He lent in and placed a soft kiss on her lips, which she responded to automatically. He slowly and very hesitantly got back on top of her, staring into her eyes as though wanting an answer to his question of whether what he was doing was right. She moaned softly, though, and closed her eyes, moving slightly to get comfortable. "Do you like that?" he whispered, before he could stop himself.

Hermione's eyes opened slowly and she looked up at him with a small smile on her face. He was quite surprised when she nodded. He smiled and slowly ran a hand up one of her legs, inwardly thanking both her and the skirt for allowing him access to the firm, smooth skin on her thigh. She let out a moan and gave a sudden movement beneath him, thrusting her hips slightly with his.

Draco gasped and looked at her slightly in shock, but after the hoarse moan of pleasure she had caused for both of them. Becoming slightly worried, he placed both his hands on her hips so they couldn't move and bent in low to whisper in her ear. "Don't make me want to take you, Hermione," he said, unable to keep the huskiness from his voice. "I know you don't want me to … not yet."

He felt her nod and looked down into her eyes, directly below his, reading all the emotions that were crossing them at that moment, one of which caused his heart to jolt and his stomach to do an odd flip. The sight of it in her eyes made him realise for the first time in all his life, that he felt the same way. The idea scared him slightly, but also caused his whole body feel stronger than it ever had, especially in his chest. He loved her!

Slowly, he lent down and kissed her. Her eyes were closed when he drew back and he smiled. "Hermione?" he said, trying to get her attention again and succeeding. She opened her eyes and he felt a sudden lump in his throat, nervousness overwhelming him – something that didn't happen very often. "Hermione," he said again, taking a deep breath, "I think I – I … Hermione, I l-" He stopped suddenly when he felt a large and cold hand grasp his bare shoulder and Hermione let out a cry. He didn't have to turn his head to see whom the hand belonged to, but he still did, his eyes making contact to the ones he had inherited.

He allowed Hermione to hurriedly scramble from underneath him and grab her top from the floor nearby, watching Lucius Malfoy stare down at his only son with nothing but hatred and malice out of the corner of her frightened eyes in the meantime.

"Well, well, well," Lucius drawled, his icy grey eyes narrowed, looking from Draco to Hermione, who, in her rush, had put her top on inside-out, and back again. "I thought I warned you, Draco, that if your little … _interaction_ with this worthless piece of filth continued, I would have to kill you … _both_." His pale, pointed face was fixed with a sneer and he had his wand raised, pointing steadily at Draco's back.

Draco suddenly turned over and got up off the bed, not taking an eye off his evil father. He backed towards Hermione and held her hand behind his back, obviously wishing to protect her. "Hermione is _not_ a worthless piece of filth!" he hissed coldly at his father. "She's the very opposite of it. You, on the other hand are smaller than any piece of filth I have ever seen!"

Hermione had to admit that was very brave of Draco. Lucius's eyes narrowed even more and the grip on his wand, now pointing directly at Draco's bare chest, tightened.

"You will regret _ever_ saying that to me, Draco!" he snarled. He raised his wand and Draco backed up ever so slightly, taking a trembling Hermione with him. "_AVADA KE-_"

But before he could even finishing saying the fatal words of the Killing Curse, a great flash of red light enlightened the dark room. Lucius let out a great cry of both pain and surprise and was suddenly lying on the stone floor of the dormitory, evidently unconscious.

Draco and Hermione stared down at the limp form of him for a moment, before turning their heads and looking in the direction that the spell had come from. Professor Dumbledore stood in the doorway with his wand raised and a look of great dislike and anger in his blue eyes. Behind him stood a highly nervous-looking Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic.

The two men entered the room more fully, Dumbledore's wand still pointing steadily at Lucius. His eyes had a fiery anger burning within them and he looked ready to kill. Cornelius Fudge was looking rather thunderstruck as he stared at Draco and Hermione, standing there hand in hand as they continued to cast glances at Lucius's unconscious form.

"I shall go and send word to the Ministry, Dumbledore," Fudge said, his voice strangely shaky. "Someone will be sent to take Malfoy to Azkaban."

"Azkaban?" Draco repeated in disbelief. "He's not going to stay there long! Last time he was in there, the Dark Lord had him out in no time! You are aware that he is still serving him, aren't you, _Minister_?"

"Well, well, yes," Fudge replied, still in the same shaky voice. "He will only be in there until the time of his trial and then we'll … we'll organise a different pu- _punishment_."

"Excuse me, Minister, sir," Hermione said quietly. "Do you honestly think Draco's father – Lucius Malfoy – even _deserves_ the chance of going to trial and try to prove himself innocent? You know yourself that he's a Death Eater, that he serves Voldemort. You may not be aware of this, but I awoke one morning over the summer holidays to find Draco staggering out of the forest I live near, terribly injured and bruised. He could have _died!_ I had _seen_ what – what Mr. Malfoy had done to him through a _Clairvoyant_ Dream. I know he used the Cruciatus Curse on him. I saw _everything!_

"Not long after that I had another Clairvoyant Dream and I saw him _kill_ Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother," Hermione continued, a small amount of tears building in her eyes. Draco watched her in silence and appreciation as she continued. "And might I also inform you, though Professor Dumbledore may have already, that a few weeks ago, Lucius here, attempted to murder his son in the grounds of this castle, out by the lake. If I hadn't seen it all through another Dream, I wouldn't have been there to save Draco. Draco would be _dead_ right now!" The tears building in her eyes let go and she buried her face in Draco's shoulder.

Draco wrapped an arm around her and stared at Fudge, who was sounding wordlessly as he took in all of what Hermione had said. "A couple of nights after he tried to kill me _that_ time, he came to me and said that if Hermione and I didn't stop '_interacting_', he'd kill us. _Both_."

"I," Dumbledore said, "highly agree with Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger, Cornelius. I believe that Lucius Malfoy doesn't deserve a trial. He is a clever man and will most likely have some sort of _trick_ up his sleeve. I might also remind you that many members of the Wizengamot are friends with him and might see that he is innocent, despite the fact they all know he's a Death Eater." He paused and looked at Draco and Hermione. "I also believe that no criminal or murderer such as Lucius Malfoy is given enough punishment out of Azkaban Prison anymore now the Dementors have left to serve Voldemort. I have been telling you that for months. I believe you and your Ministry members should work hard to find an alternative as soon as possible. Having merely armed wizards and magical creatures guarding the fortress is unsafe for anyone and anything in both the Wizarding _and_ Non-Magic community."

Hermione gazed anxiously from Fudge to Dumbledore, biting her lower lip. Fudge looked as though he was in the middle of some inward and confused rivalry. He continuously opened and shut his mouth as though he wished to tell Dumbledore otherwise.

"I'm sure – I'm sure we'll come up with some sort of _alternative_ punishment, Dumbledore," he said eventually, looking very nervously down at Lucius Malfoy, still lying unconscious on the stone floor. "I shall go and send for some – some members of the Ministry to come and get him, then…" He walked out of the dormitory quickly, a lime green bowler hat under his arm.

Dumbledore turned back to Draco and Hermione, a slightly amused smile on his face and his eyes twinkling within their blue depths. "I would like to see you both in my office tomorrow morning after breakfast," he said. He turned his gaze to Hermione. "I would like to hear about your dream then, as well if you don't mind, Miss Granger."

Hermione opened her mouth in shock. "How do you know I had another dream?" she asked squeakily.

Dumbledore just smiled and didn't answer her question. "So you both know, the password into these Slytherin quarters is being changed." He looked at Hermione, his amused gaze burning into her anxious one. "You are not supposed to be in another houses' quarters, as you should know, being Head Girl, Hermione," he said. Hermione bit her lower lip and gave a very weak and false smile. "I will, however, due to the current – er – _circumstances_, allow you to enter as long as you are very careful. I doubt any other Slytherin would appreciate having a Gryffindor like yourself in their common room or dormitories." His eyes were dancing in amusement as her face had turned a deep scarlet. He turned to Draco. "Make sure you give her the new password, Draco."

He walked out of the room with Draco and Hermione staring at him in shock.

"Did the _Headmaster_ just give you permission to enter my dormitory in the dead of night so we can … _fool around_?" Draco asked weakly with a small smirk.

Hermione gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I don't think his words meant we could 'fool around', Draco," she said in a slightly disapproving tone, walking around and giving him a kiss on the lips. "He meant I could come here on the occasion of me having more dreams."

She let go of his hand and slowly headed out of the dormitory, a smile on her face.

**A/N: so I added the 15th chap as well despite the fact that it may very well need editing … I just wanted to make my posting an even number… Ok, I warn you in the next couple of chapters (though not as yet posted… maybe … I don't know… I might post them today as well) something will happen that will make you be like: omg isn't it too soon? I'm sorry if you don't like it when it happens but I just needed to put it in for the sake of sticking close to my notes! **

**Yeah I think I'm gonna post all the chapters – forgive me if they need editing too badly… they have been beta-read (by the beautiful Samantha) but since I posted them on Astronomy Tower I found a few little mistakes here and there and I had made plans to edit the whole fic but I got up to this chapter and stopped… anyway, PLEASE REVIEW!**


	16. The Real Truth and What if?

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing!**_

_**Chapter 16**_

A full three weeks had passed since Lucius Malfoy had turned up in Draco's dormitory. They had moved into November, the weather growing cold and wet, cloaks starting to become worn. The first Quidditch game of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin had taken place with a highly angry and aggressive Harry catching the Golden Snitch before Draco, thus making Gryffindor win. But, still, the seventh-year workload increased as the NEWTs drew nearer, especially for Hermione.

She stayed indoors most of the time, in the library or a quiet corner in the Gryffindor common room; books stacked in front of her as she filled in number charts for Arithmancy, star charts for Astronomy and translated Rune to English. She continued with her Head duties, trying her hardest to make conversation with Harry in her process, though her effort was continuously not rewarded as he ignored her or otherwise grunted in reply.

The lack of interaction with Harry, Ron and all the other Gryffindors was truly starting to take effect on her. She was often found looking depressed, her thoughts built to an unusual high. Draco, who had been one of the few to notice this slight change of behaviour in her, chose not to confuse her any more. He kept his true feelings to himself and decided to wait until the time was right.

They often sat silently together in the library, as Hermione tried to find the words to the one thing she had been meaning to tell him for weeks, but not once had she even started to explain it to him. She knew he should know, as he had a great part in it, but was unsure as to how he would react when she did so. Draco, however, wasn't oblivious to the way she sort of blanked out during her work, staring at him as she bit her lip. He recognised this action as the one she always held when she wanted to tell him something important, but was hesitant to do so.

"Hermione," he said one Thursday evening as they sat in the library, working together as they wrote their Potions essays. "You're not telling me something." He hadn't expected this sentence to sound as accusing as it did, but nonetheless, Hermione sighed and looked at him carefully.

"I never told you the real truth about how I made Harry … _back off_," she said quietly. "I've been meaning to for weeks, but I never…" She trailed off and looked away. "About a month or so ago, when you and I were still working on our Love Potions project, Harry came and saw me here in the library and we started discussing –" She stopped and looked up at him, biting her lip. "- We started discussing who I was going to choose between him and you."

"And you told him me?" Draco said, wondering why she had been so hesitant in telling him this.

"Well, not quite," Hermione said, becoming uneasy, averting her eyes from Draco's again. "I was trying to choose and it … it happened again."

"What happened again?"

"The visions. Of you and me," Hermione answered quietly. She looked at him once again, this time steadily. "I finally realised what they meant, what they were trying to tell me and when I explained to Harry in the way I understood it, he got rather upset and he … he backed away and we haven't spoken since." She sniffed and forced the tears forming in her eyes to disappear. "I told him that I believed I was supposed to be with you, not him."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "You say that as though you're not really sure," Draco said in a voice of uncertain calmness.

Hermione shrugged. "I do believe it," she said, "it's just … this whole _gift_ is a lot more complicated and confusing than I originally expected. I mean, I would never have thought they could give me the answer to something I was so unsure about, or give me the knowledge of what the victims in my dream's name is. Dumbledore said in that meeting we had with him the other week that me knowing Charmina Vane's name when it was never even mentioned in the dream I had about her death was all part of my stupid gift's growth."

"You'll get used to it all," Draco said reassuringly. "Dumbledore definitely seems to think you will."

Hermione gave a small sigh and nodded. She knew he was right, but there was still an odd lagging feeling in her chest that she couldn't quite understand. She and Draco continued on with their Potions essays in silence.

They exited the library just as quietly when they had both finished and headed down the corridor.

Hermione's thoughts were not entirely on the way she was going as they headed down a narrow flight of stairs with a silent Draco beside her. Her mind was suddenly on the night Lucius Malfoy had turned up in Draco's dormitory. For weeks she had been helping with trying and work out exactly how he had gotten in, but they hadn't gotten far with it. It seemed they'd never known.

"Has your father been trying to contact you or anything?" she asked Draco quietly as they headed down the marble staircase towards the Entrance Hall.

Draco cast her a small glance. "No," he said firmly. "If I had gotten any word from him, I would have told you."

Hermione gave a small, unnecessary shrug. "I saw Dumbledore this morning and he still doesn't know how he got in here that – that night," Hermione said. "Fudge isn't telling him much about it, either. He doesn't even know if he's still in Azkaban or whether the Ministry has done anything else with him. We have no way to find out, either, what with the _Daily Prophet_ not even mentioning anything to do with him and what he's been doing lately. Fudge is probably behind _that_ as well." She said the last sentence in a tone full of spite.

Draco looked down at her. "How come you didn't tell me all that sooner?" he asked seriously. "I would've thought you'd have told me straight after this little meeting you had with Dumbledore."

"Yes, well, I was going to, but – well – I didn't want to worry you," Hermione said with a small and slightly guilty smile. "I didn't think any of it was _overly_ important, anyway. I just hope he doesn't try to kill you again."

"He will," Draco murmured vaguely. "I know he will."

Hermione bit her lip, the sensation of fear and anxiety spreading through her veins. That was the third time in the past week that Draco had said that and she greatly wished she had never brought the subject up. It seemed it was all they ever talked about lately.

"I've been wondering a lot recently, what might have happened between that night if he didn't show up," she said, trying to change the subject.

Draco looked down at her abruptly. He still hadn't told her how he felt and wasn't planning on doing so until he was sincerely positive about it. He had never felt what it was like to be in love, as such, and he didn't want to ruin any possibilities of it happening.

"I – I don't know," Draco said slowly, an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. "I guess we may have gone a little further than just kissing."

Hermione's cheeks flashed a deep red and didn't look at him as they headed out onto the grounds. "And – And what might that have – er – included?" Hermione asked rather nervously, not really knowing if she truly wanted to know.

Draco stared at her in disbelief out of the corner of his eye. He was highly surprised that she was asking him such a question, and he wasn't sure if he should, or even wanted to give an answer.

If his father hadn't interrupted that night, he would've told Hermione that he loved her. How she would have reacted, he didn't know. She may have become scared and ran from the room hurriedly, not even taking any time to put her top back on. Or, she may have done the opposite and responded with telling him the same back and the next thing they'd each know was nothing but a burning passion erupting within their bodies…

Draco had to close his eyes briefly in order to force these new, rather _sexual_ images out of his mind before looking at Hermione again, who remained silent, not looking at him. She gave a light shiver and he wrapped her arm around her for warmth. She sighed lightly and rested her head on his shoulder.

"We'll never know," Draco whispered suddenly.

Hermione looked up at him again and frowned. "Never know what?" she asked. During both her own and Draco's silence she had forgotten her question.

Draco chuckled lightly at the blank look on her face. "We'll never know what might have happened that night if my father hadn't interrupted," he said in reply. "I'm guessing there might have been a bit more stripping. Perhaps even a little bit more."

Hermione stayed silent and led the way towards a gap between some trees that sat at the edge of the lake. A chilling breeze ruffled her hair and the cloak around her, causing her to move in closer to Draco, who smiled to himself and held her close.

"What are we going to do if my father escapes Azkaban and comes after me again?" Draco asked. "There's no counter-curse for Avada Kedavra."

"Well, let's hope that I have another vision and can help you," Hermione replied anxiously. "My gift definitely is getting stronger," she added. "I'm beginning to see things _days_ before they happen in reality, now. We'll be able to notify Dumbledore and he should be able to do something."

"Let's hope so," Draco muttered.

They walked along the lake several times in silence. Draco's thoughts were caught up as he mentally went over all the curses that he could possibly use in an act of defense against his father. Hermione didn't say anything, having a good idea as to what was going on inside Draco's head. He stared ahead into nothing, following the same trail each time they circled the edge of the lake, before finally beginning to head back towards the castle.

Hermione walked beside him, watching him cautiously out of the corner of her eye. His arm was still wrapped around her, but he seemed oblivious of it. She shivered lightly as a chilly gust of wind ruffled her hair, but he didn't seem to notice. The slightly empty feeling rose within her again despite her and she vaguely wondered what was causing her to feel this way.

Draco seemed to come back to his senses as they reached the front doors of the castle.

He pushed them open and headed into the Entrance Hall, but as soon as they had entered, Hermione suddenly went rigid beside him, a hurt and shocked expression appearing on her face, her eyes transfixed on something in front of them.

Draco stared her and a lump formed in his throat as his first thought over came him. He slowly, hesitantly, turned his head to see what had caused her to tense up, with a feeling of dread rising within him. His dread was instantly replaced, however, with one of quick-building anger and painful jealousy as he noticed what, or rather, who truly stood there.

**A/N: just a quick note here, at the bottom of chapter 15 I think, I said that this fic is beta-read by Samantha... well it's also beta-readby Stephanie as well (I meant to right her name down but it sliped my mind! My bad! She stopped beta-ing come the 21st chap anyway...)**


	17. Serious Confessions

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own a single, tiny, weeny bit...**_

_**Chapter 17**_

A mixture of odd feelings and emotions swept through Hermione's veins as she stared at the sight before her. She didn't quite understand why, but she felt as though her heart had cracked in two and she was being left as nothing but a soul staring at the scene with nothing but hopelessness.

She felt Draco's eyes on her, but didn't dare to look his way as she could sense that they wouldn't be comforting. He'd feel betrayed and perhaps even heart-broken himself if he had managed to read her sudden behaviour and her lack of comfort.

She watched as Harry moved out of Ginny's arms, looking shocked and uncertain. He seemed oblivious to the two pairs of eyes that were watching him and the girl he had previously had his lips against. He began to speak, but Hermione's ears were ringing and she didn't hear a word.

She only distantly felt Draco steer her away and up the marble staircase, her eyes not leaving Harry as he awkwardly spoke to Ginny about what had just happened.

Draco pulled her into an empty classroom, his expression hard as he looked down at her. She took a seat at a desk and shakily ran a hand through her hair, only vaguely aware of her surroundings. She still avoided meeting Draco's eyes, not wanting to see how he felt about the situation.

"I thought you were over him?" Draco questioned harshly, forcing her to look at him. "I thought you were _bloody_ over him!"

"I thought I was," Hermione croaked, looking down at her hands.

Draco cursed loudly, not truly understanding the feelings and emotions that had built up within him since they'd entered the Entrance Hall.

"You still like him, though?" he sneered. "You can admit that?"

Hermione didn't answer immediately, feeling tears begin to well up in her eyes. "I'm not – I'm not sure. I – maybe I am…"

"_Maybe_? _Maybe_!" Draco repeated fiercely. "Hermione, when are you going to be able to give a true, _straight_ answer? I'm sick and tired of it. I asked you who you liked more – me or Potter; you could've easily have turned around and said Potter and we wouldn't be having this bloody argument right now! But no, you were _unsure_!"

Hermione's lip trembled violently and she broke down completely.

"I didn't – I didn't like Harry m-more!" she sobbed. "But I wasn't en-_entirely_ sure as to who – who I liked more! Who I w-wanted to ch-ch-choose!" She looked up at Draco and wiped her eyes. "I chose you, though, Dr-Draco!" Hermione said. "I t-turned my back on one of my be-best friends for you!"

She broke down again and Draco merely stared at her, unsure of what to do or say.

"Do you still like him, though?" he asked eventually in a voice of forced calmness.

"I –" Hermione began, but stopped as she noticed the glare Draco gave her. "Yes," she replied with a nod, wiping her eyes again and avoiding Draco's eyes. "I do, but I – I don't l-like him as mu-much as I used to. I l-like you a l-lot more!"

Draco took a seat at a table and looked at her, his face still contorted with anger. As Hermione watched him with watering eyes, she knew that his mind was having a hard time in understanding everything. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed irritably. He looked at her for a second longer before looking away.

Inside, he could feel a mixture of confused emotions swimming around and not one of them he could understand. The pain within him hadn't moved, but it had ceased a little bit. He looked at Hermione, on the verge of more tears and regretted some of his words instantly. He mentally punished himself for not truly understanding.

Hermione was typically human. She had had to make a choice in picking between her former enemy, whom she had hated for six years of her life, or her best friend, whom had been dear in the centre of her heart for the same amount of time. It was a lose one, gain another situation. She had abandoned her friends for him, Draco, all because of an unsure belief that a couple of visions were trying to tell her _who_ to choose, _who_ she would be best with, when it really could've been either of them. It was really quite natural for her to still hold feelings for Harry.

Draco looked back up at Hermione, his heart aching with hesitant anticipation. "I love you," he said in a soft voice.

Hermione stiffened with shock, yet she felt her heart give a great pang and smiled slightly. Looking at him, she mentally tried to find the words to say. "I l-" She stopped suddenly when the door to the classroom burst open to reveal Ginny Weasley, her vivid red hair messy and her cheeks slightly flushed.

"Oh, sorry," she said hurried to the two of them, noticing the look of anger resurfacing on Draco's face. "I – er… Hermione, I have to tell you something," she said, still as hurriedly as before. "What you saw in the Entrance Hall – it was nothing, really. Harry came to me with this stupid plan of his. He wants you back and he had this idea that if he and I kissed somewhere where there was a great possibility we'd be seen, you'd find out and get jealous, perhaps realise that you still have feelings for him and –"

"And abandon Draco to be with him instead," Hermione finished for the young girl, feeling anger build up within her as well.

"I swear, Hermione, it was all his idea," Ginny said with an apologetic smile. "I declined, but he seemed to have the idea stuck in his head and as we were crossing the Entrance Hall, he just sort of grabbed me and started kissing me. He got a bit _too_ swept up in the moment if you ask me. He only left a minute ago, looking more confused than I've ever seen him, to be honest."

Ginny looked from Draco to Hermione rather anxiously. "I'll talk you later then, shall I, Hermione?" With that, she swept from the room, closing the door behind her.

Hermione stood up. "I really should be getting back to the common room," she said, looking around her uncomfortably. "I need a rest to … _think_."

Draco attempted to stop her, but his effort was worthless. She hurried from the room, leaving him there to cease the anger still burning within his veins.

Hermione lay on her bed later that night, listening to the sound of her dorm mates' light breathing as she went over all the events and thoughts of the past day.

She still didn't understand entirely why she had felt the way she had when she'd seen Harry kissing Ginny in the Entrance Hall. She had been so sure that the feelings she had held for Harry had ceased to nothing, but they had then reappeared along with a whole lot of new emotions at the sight of his lips against Ginny's. The fact it had all been some stupid, selfish plan of Harry's to try and win her back hurt her slightly as well and made her feel almost … _vulnerable_. If that had been his first attempt, she didn't really want to see his next…

She turned over and stared at the scarlet curtains. Draco had seemed so angry with her and she couldn't help but feel ashamed of herself, even though she knew that the feelings that she still held for Harry were completely out of her control. But even his anger hadn't stopped the words that made her heart pound within her chest in such an irresistible way from exiting his mouth.

"_I love you." _The words circled her mind and a wide smile spread across her face. He loved her and she could never feel happier, but yet … she had never responded. She had never told him that she in fact felt the same way, that she loved him and had never felt that way about anyone before in her life. But then again, she would've if Ginny hadn't interrupted…

Hermione inwardly cursed Ginny for walking into the room at such a bad time. Or rather, walking into the room all together. Merlin knew what might've happened after the words had swum from her mouth. Hermione was positive it would've been something good. Something she had had trouble not imagining for weeks…

Without a single other thought on her mind, Hermione quickly and quietly threw the covers off of her, climbed out of bed and silently put on her dressing gown. She exited the dormitory and headed down the stairs into the deserted common room as quietly as she could. She exited out into the corridors of the castle through the portrait hole and headed down several floors until she reached the eerily silent Entrance Hall, keeping in the shadows as much as she could in case anyone was taking a Midnight stroll. She descended the stairs down to the dungeons and headed towards the Slytherin common room, her footsteps echoing against the stone.

"_Caligatio_," Hermione whispered when she reached the stretch of wall between the silver and green torches. She headed on into the common room, thankful for it being empty, and up the left staircase towards Draco's dormitory. She reached it and knocked quietly, receiving no answer from the room within, and creaked the door open to reveal the dark dormitory, lit only by the moonlight shining through the window near Draco's bed.

She tiptoed to the bed and opened one side of the hangings to reveal Draco's sleeping form, his head resting softly on the green pillows.

Hermione sat down beside him at the edge of the bed and ran a finger down the side of his cheek, feeling its flawless softness. A tiny moan broke his light breathing and he moved slightly so he was lying on his back. His eyes opened slowly and he smiled up at her as he noticed who it was. He made to sit up, but Hermione placed a hand on his bare chest and stopped him.

"Another dream?" he asked quietly, moving over and giving her room to lie down beside him.

Hermione shook her head lightly, lying down and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "No," she whispered. Draco moved onto his side again and rested his head on his elbow, looking down at her, his eyebrow raised and a sexy expression on his face. Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm not here for _that_, either, Draco!"

Draco shrugged. "I can always dream," he said, brushing his lips across hers.

Hermione recoiled slightly and looked at him seriously. "I'm here to talk to you about something else, or rather, tell you something else," she said rather nervously, looking at him in the eye. "I like you an awful lot Draco and I want to assure you that any feelings that I still hold for Harry are unwanted and no where near as big as the ones I hold for you. In a way, you've changed me and that isn't a bad thing. You've made me see the truth in the person you are and you've caused me to realise that sometimes the person you hate is the person you will end up loving at some stage further on in life. The fact that I've actually let such a thing happen is quite unlike me, but I don't regret a moment that I've spent with you."

She ran a hand over his cheek again as he looked at her with a small smile. He only vaguely knew where this little speech of hers was going and he didn't object to it one bit.

"I've never felt this way about anyone before in my life, Draco," Hermione said quietly, smiling down at him with content, "And I love you."

Draco didn't spare a second. His lips closed in on hers immediately, causing her to give a light moan. His arms entwined her waist and he pulled her closer to him, kissing her with an intensity and passion he had never even known he had in him.

Hermione ran her fingers through his hair as he lightly positioned himself on top of her, still kissing her with the same amount of passion, love and intensity as she pulled the open curtain of his bed closed.

A/N. ok, please, when and if you review - don't say: "omg - they're doing it! isn't it too soon?" because i tell you now:I KNOW that it's a bit rushed but it was bound to happen sooner or later so please don't critisize me for something that I would very much like to change... I can't though for my fingers won't allow me to type an alternative scene...


	18. Events of the Morning After

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing**_

_**Chapter 18**_

Draco woke early the next morning with the sun rising outside the window near his bed. He smiled and pulled Hermione closer to him, kissing her on the top of the head as he reminisced on the events of the night. He could hardly believe that he and Hermione had gone so far, that they had slept together and been the closest that two people could ever get. The thought numbed his mind with nothing more or less than great happiness.

Hermione stirred in his arms and slowly opened her eyes with a small smile curving her lips. She let out a moan and ran her hands over Draco's bare chest, her smile growing wider. "Good morning," she whispered, giving a tiny yawn.

"'Morning," Draco responded, pulling her closer to him again. "You should probably go, you know," Draco said softly. "Best leave before everyone starts waking up and sees you."

"I don't want to go yet," Hermione replied stubbornly, absently running her foot down his leg and causing tingles to run through Draco's body.

He honestly didn't want Hermione to leave; he just felt it would be best for her to get out of the Slytherin quarters before one of his fellow Slytherins woke up and saw her.

"Do you want to get caught in bed naked with me, then?" Draco asked in a less-than-soft tone. "Have them run off and tell my father we're sleeping together so he has another reason to kill us both?"

"Draco, your father's in Azkaban," Hermione said, frowning at him.

"How are we supposed to be sure, what with Fudge and everyone else not telling us his whereabouts or what condition he's in?" Draco stated. "He could be sitting at home drinking tea and patting our pet python for all we know!"

"You have a pet python?" Hermione asked, interested.

Draco gave a small, slightly lop-sided smile. "No, but we did when I was younger," Draco replied. "Father killed it, because my mother forced him after I was rushed to St. Mungo's with a nasty bite on my stomach." Draco lifted the blankets to allow Hermione to look at two small, round scars on the left side of his well-toned torso, evidently made by the snake's fangs. "I was seven at the time."

Hermione ran a finger across them and Draco watched with pleasurable content. She smiled and snuggled in even closer to him.

"I love you," she whispered and gave him a small kiss. "And I don't want to leave."

"Hermione," Draco said warningly, "You're going to get caught and then everyone will know about us and Dumbledore will most likely take away your privilege of being allowed access to the Slytherin quarters and this dormitory."

Hermione knew he was right and couldn't quite understand her sudden stubbornness. She wasn't one to wake up at six o'clock in someone of the opposite sex from another houses' dormitory and not leave immediately. She should've been panicking and rushing frantically to get her clothes on and leave as quickly as she possibly could. But no, she was lying in Draco Malfoy's bed with nothing more than a blanket covering her naked form and refusing to leave.

She moaned against Draco's chest and kissed it softly. "I guess I should go, then," she said stubbornly, throwing her half of the blanket off and opening one side of the curtain so she could gracefully get out of bed.

Draco watched with content as she pulled on her nightgown before getting out of bed himself and searching for some clothes to wear. He'd only just pulled on a shirt and pair of pants when the door of the dormitory burst open. Draco cursed loudly as Hermione frantically tried to hide herself behind the curtains of his bed.

It was too late, though. Pansy Parkinson, the one who had entered, stood, mid-step in the centre of the large room, staring at the spot of the curtains Hermione's face had been. Her over-glossed lips were formed into a circle of great shock and disbelief on her pug-like face.

"Dr-Draco," she stammered. "Is that – was that – Is that Hermione Mudblood Granger hiding behind those – those curtains?" She shakily pointed at the place Hermione's face had disappeared behind. "Wearing a nightgown with her hair more unruly than _ever_!"

Draco looked at the curtains and placed a fake frown on his face. "Hermione Granger?" he repeated. "No."

"Don't lie to me, Draco!" Pansy screamed shrilly, causing the other occupants of the dormitory to wake abruptly with great grunts. "I saw her! I saw her!" Pansy's eyes filled with tears. "Did you sleep with her, Draco!"

Slowly, the curtains opened and Hermione looked at Pansy with an odd and uncertain expression on her face. She stood up and moved over to Draco, who merely stood beside her, staring at his dorm mates. An eerie silence filled the dormitory as everyone stared at the nightgown-wearing Gryffindor with looks of great disbelief on their faces.

"D-Did you sl-sleep with her, Dra-Draco?" Pansy asked again, wiping her red eyes.

Draco looked down at Hermione to see her only staring at the floor, biting her lip with her complexion pale.

"Yes," Draco said casually. Hermione looked up at him quickly, uncertain as to whether he was doing the right thing. Surely he could've come up with some sort of excuse? "Hermione and I slept together. Best night of my life to be completely truthful and I honestly don't care if you go blabbing it to the whole world. It's none of your business and it never will be. I love her and she loves me. What else can I say? I'm happy. I've changed. I'm not the same person as I used to be. I'm not the same person as my father brought up and created. I am sleeping with Hermione Louise Granger, a Mudblood, a Muggle-born, a Gryffindor, a person my bloody father is against me being with and I am enjoying every bloody minute I spend with her!"

The Slytherins in the dormitory and Hermione all stared at him in shock. It seemed to them as though such a speech had been building up inside of him for weeks and had finally been freed, let out. His breathing was ragged and he was staring at his fellow housemates with a mixture of anger and hatred and something else even he couldn't identify.

By his side, Hermione grasped his hand and leaned into his ear. "Thank-you," she whispered, before giving him a light kiss on the cheek and pulling away.

Pansy was staring at her with a look of nothing more or less than murder, before, eventually, looking away and walking quickly from the room. Once she had exited, Draco stared at his dorm mates with hatred.

"Show's over," he hissed and led Hermione out of the room, down the stairs to the common room and right out to the corridors of the castle.

By lunchtime, nearly everyone in the school knew about the Draco and Hermione affair.

No matter where they went, whispers followed their every move. Each had glares following them through the corridors, in the library, across the grounds. It was all extremely unavoidable.

Hermione had restricted herself to her quiet corner of the library, but even that wasn't helping. She could hear whispering voices talking about her from behind the shelves and some of the things she heard almost made tears well up in her eyes.

This was her fault, she felt. If she hadn't been so stubborn to leave, than perhaps Pansy would never have seen her sitting on Draco's bed. Perhaps she'd have already left…

As Hermione sat in the library, ranting with her own mind and regretting being so stubborn and thoughtless, Draco sat on his bed in his dormitory, stunning and recovering Neville Longbottom's toad, Trevor, who he had found in the hallway outside the common room. All his thoughts were centred on one person, one extremely hateful and cruel person he had once called his father and he had to restrain himself from performing Avada Kedavra on the worthless toad in front on him.

The amount of anger and hatred building up inside him was an awful lot greater than he had ever held. His reason being in a letter he had received straight after breakfast that morning, which was currently sitting beside him on the bed. It was only short, but its words were simple, yet evil at the same time. They burned red in Draco's eyes.

_Draco,_

_Your insolence and despicably selfish deed has been done. _

_Expect no more than murder to be set upon you and that Mudblood slime._

_- Your father, Lucius Malfoy._


	19. Events of a Friends Help

_**DISCLAIMER: i don't own a thing, ok?**_

_**Chapter 19**_

The grounds shimmered with frost as a new morning dawned. Gazing out her dormitory window, Hermione shivered as she gazed into the icy depths of the lake. To the east the sun was slowly rising into its position in the sky, the clouds surrounding it dyed red and gold.

Less than an hour ago she had woken abruptly from a dream; the dream being the same one that had haunted her for the past seven nights. Not a single thing differed from the previous, and not a thing settled well in Hermione's head or chest. It was always the same: Draco always died.

An awful feeling settled in the pit on her stomach and she felt her eyes well up with painful tears as she re-lived the events of the dream, over and over again in her mind.

_Draco stood by the lake, an angry expression printed on his face and a temple twitching near his jaw. The sun had set and thick, dark clouds had settled above the castle and its grounds, sending no more than darkness around him. And yet, he was completely oblivious to it all. _

_All around him, there was nothing more than an eerie silence, broken only by the soft ruffle of leaves from the forest in the distance. He ran his right hand through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes and walked over to a large rock nearby and took a seat. He thrust a hand into his robes and pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment and read what was written on it._

_As he looked up again and stared across the calm, yet chilly surface of the lake, his hand shook and he screwed the parchment up and threw it to the side, where it landed in a bush. He stared at the place it had disappeared with fury, before burying his face in his hands._

"_Crying about it all won't help, Draco," said a cold and extremely familiar voice from behind him. "Tut, tut, tut. Emotions – never something I taught you to show… Absolutely disgraceful!"_

_Draco looked up; his grey eyes full of helpless tears. He narrowed them as they landed on his father, who stood in the shadow of a small tree, holding his wand in his hand and gazing at Draco with a cruel smile twisting his thin lips._

"_You have betrayed me to an extent I will not forgive," Lucius hissed at his son, taking a step forward. "I have warned you – more than once – to not fool around with worthless pieces of filth like that Granger. A Mudblood! I taught you _better_!"_

"_Hermione isn't a piece of filth," Draco said in a tone of uncertain calmness. "She's the complete opposite." _

"_Yes, keep sticking up for your little Mudblood friend … or should I say _lover_?" Lucius smirked. "Continue to betray me and your family name. We Malfoys are supposed to be no more, or, rather, _less_ than pure-bloods and I intend to keep it that way." _

_Lucius let out a cruel, cold laugh, which filled the air and caused a chill to flood through Draco's whole body. He watched as his father raised his wand and made to reach for his own, but it was too late._

"AVADA KEDAVRA!_" Lucius yelled harshly, a jet of bright green light shooting from the tip of his wand and hitting Draco square in the chest. _

_Draco Malfoy crumbled silently, almost as though in slow motion, to the ground, his eyes wide open with transfixed shock. He was dead before he hit the ground. _

Hermione sniffed and looked away from the window and around at the room surrounding her. She had yet to tell anyone about the dream. She knew she should, what with Dumbledore wanting to know about any dreams or visions she had that could mean harm towards anyone, but she had lost confidence when it came to this one for some reason. She didn't want to worry anyone, but she also didn't want to loose Draco and have Lucius satisfied.

She sat down on her bed and ran a hand through her hair, pushing it out of her wet eyes. What was she to do? Draco was destined to be killed by his father. When? She didn't know, but it had to be somewhere in the near future…

Hesitantly, she stood up and came to an uncertain decision. She had to tell someone. Not Draco, and not Dumbledore just yet. The one person she had confidence in telling would understand what she was going through… Or at least, she hoped…

She hurried out of the dormitory and down the stairs to the common room. Reaching it, she turned and headed to the staircase leading up to the boys' dormitories.

_She was going to tell Harry. _The thought sounded almost ludicrous in her mind. Ever since fourth- and fifth-year, he had been having dreams about Voldemort, seeing things that may happen in the future, seeing things the Dark Lord had planted in his mind. It wasn't entirely the same as what was happening to her, but he would surely understand it all more than anyone else would … except perhaps Dumbledore…

Hermione reached the door to the seventh-year boys' dormitory and knocked lightly. When no answer came from within the room, she creaked the door open and gazed into the dormitory. It seemed everyone was asleep. She could hear Neville's loud snores, Seamus's whistling breathing and Ron's occasion grunt as he dreamed. She entered and headed straight over to Harry's bed.

She moved the scarlet curtain aside and looked down at Harry's sleeping form. He let out a tiny moan and turned over, not waking.

"Harry," Hermione whispered quietly, giving him a light shake. He didn't wake, or even move. "Harry," she repeated, slightly louder.

Harry's eyes slowly opened and he looked up at Hermione through blurry eyes. Hermione bit on her lip anxiously as he grabbed his glasses from his bedside table and put them on.

"Hermione?" he croaked. "What are you – What are you doing here?"

"I want to talk to you about…" She trailed off, looking away. "A dream I've been having lately."

Harry frowned at her. "But it's –" He looked at his alarm clock. "- six o'clock," he said. "Can't it wait until I get up?"

"No," Hermione said, shaking her head. "I want to talk to you now; before everyone wakes up and overhears."

Harry yawned and sat up, scratching his head. "Give me five minutes. I'll meet you down in the common room and we can … _talk_."

Hermione nodded and retreated out of the dormitory and back down to the common room, where she took a seat on the couch, anxiously waiting for Harry to come down and hoping he would understand and allow her the chance to talk. She knew he wasn't happy with her still, what with her having picked Draco, their old enemy and the fact she had also slept with him…

The sound of footsteps sounded from the stairs and Hermione turned her head slightly to watch Harry descend the last couple of stairs and head silently towards her, now fully dressed. He sighed as he sat down on the couch, some two feet away from here.

"What's up?" he asked in a rather unenthusiastic tone.

Hermione looked at him and took a deep breath. "For the past week, I've been having the same dream – over and over – that shows Draco being killed by his father," Hermione said as calmly and casually as she could manage.

"So?" Harry asked bluntly.

Hermione looked at him seriously. "Harry, I know you're probably still angry and upset with me about what I've been doing lately. What with Draco and I, and I'm sorry for that. I chose him and you have to except that. He's changed –"

"Changed?" Harry repeated. "People don't change over night, even if the change is encouraged by an evil father attempting to kill them, or suddenly meeting or getting to know some girl they had once hated! I thought you, as clever and smart as you are, may have known that, but obviously, with all these recent events, you don't."

"Harry -" Hermione tried desperately.

"I've spent a whole year trying to get you to like me as something more than a best friend. I asked you out, thinking I had managed it, and you turned me down. Weeks later, I see you in the library kissing our worst enemy! That very scene made me feel so small that you couldn't possibly imagine, Hermione. Then I give it all a second chance and after weeks and weeks of your bloody humming and haring, you choose _him_ over me! I still hadn't gotten over you, though. Oh no, if anything, I liked you even more. I like a girl who plays hard to get at times.

"So, I went to desperate measures, trying to make you either show you still have feelings for me, or make you jealous," Harry continued. "I kissed Ginny hoping you would see it, or find out, and then, the next day, I suddenly hear, from Blaise Zabini of all people, that you and Draco _bloody_ Malfoy were found in bed together, taking a nice, intimate _romp_ together!"

Hermione's eyes had welled up with tears over Harry's last few sentences and, as she spoke, her voice was cracked. "I l-love Dr-Draco!" she sobbed. "I'm s-sorry, Ha-Harry for ever h-hurting y-y-you, but I – I love h-him!"

"How can you be so bloody sure?" Harry asked desperately. "How do you know this isn't just some sort of plan Malfoy's formed as an attempt to hurt you? How do you know for sure that he loves you back? Sure, he might like you a lot, Hermione, but I just don't think that Malfoy, of all the people in the world, could change ever so suddenly and fall in love with you. It could be no more than lust for all you know."

Hermione stared at him as he stood up and headed back up to his dormitory. She stared at the doorway he'd disappeared up the stairs through for a moment as she went over everything he'd said in her head.

She didn't want to believe anything he'd said about Draco, but part of her couldn't help but wonder if he had truly changes over such a short space of time and fallen in love with her. Maybe it was lust. Maybe even she had mistaken lust for love as well as Draco. _Maybe_…

Hermione moved her thoughts to the back of her head as she stood up, deciding to worry about it all later and try to unjumble all of these new possibilities and thoughts later.

For now, she had to talk to Dumbledore about her dream…


	20. Telling Dumbledore and Making Realisatio...

_**DISCLAIMER: sigh of irritation I'm sick of writing this but I really don't want to be sued: I OWN NOTHING!**_

_**Chapter 20**_

_Where was Dumbledore?_

Hermione had been outside the Headmaster's locked office doors for almost an hour, waiting for him to arrive. She was anxious to tell him about her dream and was desperately wondering where he was. She hadn't seen him during her rushed breakfast and it was really starting to worry her.

What if something had happened to him? What if Lucius Malfoy had come back to the school and somehow captured him as a way to leave his path to Draco clear so it would be so much easier to kill him? The idea terrified Hermione greatly.

Suddenly, there was a scrapping behind her and she turned quickly to see the top of a wizard hat appearing around the corner of the revolving staircase. Seconds later, the full figure of the headmaster had appeared into sight and Hermione let out a sigh of relief.

Dumbledore smiled at her. "Sorry I am so late in arriving, Miss Granger," he said, unlocking the door of his office with a tap of his wand and stepping inside, Hermione right behind him. "Hagrid has been having trouble taming a knew creature he has obtained for his class – your class I dare say."

Hermione quickly shifted her images of what sort of monster Hagrid had gotten his hands on this time and looked up at Dumbledore with a look of upset seriousness. "Professor, I'm here because of a dream I've been having for the past week. I would've come sooner to tell you, but I just…" She trailed off, looking away from the headmaster and studying an odd brass ornament that sat nearby.

Dumbledore smiled and took a seat behind his desk. "I understand completely, Miss Granger," he said with a small nod. "Now, what is this dream about? Only tell me if you wish to," he added.

"It's always the same," Hermione said, looking down at her hands. And she launched into speech about dream, seeing flashes of it appearing in her mind as she worded everything in detail. Dumbledore sat, taking in her every word and by the time she had finished, his face was contorted into an expression of graveness.

Hermione looked at the headmaster with glassy eyes. "Could this be another vision, Professor? Or is it just my consciousness putting horrid images and ideas in my mind?"

Dumbledore slowly took off his glasses and cleaned them with his sleeve, not meeting Hermione's eyes until they were sitting back on his nose. "It is my belief that yes, this dream is, as you suspect, another vision. It is my knowledge that Lucius Malfoy has, yes, escaped Azkaban prison through the help of some of his fellow Death Eaters. I found out only this morning through one of my contacts at the Ministry of Magic that he has been out for over a week and may be trying to keep as lower profile as he can. _But_, I believe that he hasn't stopped all contact with the wizarding world. I have noticed Draco has been extremely bad-tempered and in a way moody – more than usual – for the past week or so. It is my suspicion that perhaps he has received some sort of word from Lucius."

"But – but he would've told me," Hermione claimed. "I'm sure he would've."

Dumbledore looked at her carefully. "Perhaps he didn't want to worry you, Miss Granger."

Later that day, Hermione sat in the common room, ignoring everyone around her as she stared into the dancing fire, her mind repeating the last real sentence Dumbledore had said before she left the office.

"_Perhaps he didn't want to worry you, Miss Granger."_ Somehow, she had the feeling that that may not be the case. Draco would've told her, surely. Lucius wanted her dead as well, didn't he? So maybe he never had received some form of a word from Lucius. Maybe something else was causing him to be so bad-tempered and moody lately. Maybe it was her… But no, it couldn't be; he loved her.

Some of Harry's words from that morning resurfaced in her mind. _"…I just don't think that Malfoy, of all the people in the world, could change ever so suddenly and fall in love with you. It could be no more than lust for all you know." _Could Harry perhaps be right? Is that why Draco hadn't told her anything about having some kind of word from his father?

Hermione moved restlessly and lent her head back against the couch, her thoughts and feelings suddenly becoming confused. She didn't know what to think or do. Draco had, as Dumbledore had said, been very distant with the people around him lately, even the ones closest to him, like her. It had been nearly a week since they'd had a true conversation, or shared a real, meaningful kiss. Were these all signs that he has, yes, had contact with his father and none had come as good news?

A vision from her dream suddenly flashed through her thoughts and sat up abruptly, trying her hardest to concentrate on the image.

_Draco ran his right hand through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes and walked over to a large rock nearby and took a seat. He thrust a hand into his robes and pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment and read what was written on it._

_As he looked up again and stared across the calm, yet chilly surface of the lake, his hand shook and he screwed the parchment up and threw it to the side, where it landed in a bush. He stared at the place it had disappeared with fury, before burying his face in his hands._

"_Crying about it all won't help, Draco," said a cold and extremely familiar voice from behind him. "Tut, tut, tut. Emotions – never something I taught you to show… Absolutely disgraceful!"…_

That piece of parchment. What had been on it to cause Draco such fury and emotion? Was it perhaps a letter his father had sent him? Lucius did seem to have some kind of idea what was written on it…

Hermione stood up abruptly and headed straight over to the portrait hole and climbed out through it, ignoring the Fat Lady's words of trying not coming back too late. She descended the stairs down to the Entrance Hall as quick as she could without becoming too tired.

Finally reaching the bottom stair, she looked around carefully and headed straight towards the passage down to the dungeons, taking the stairs slowly in case someone was looming near the bottom. To her relief though, the passage below was deserted and she headed down it quickly, looking carefully around corners as she went and came to a halt between the green and silver torches on the wall.

"_Caligatio_," Hermione said quietly and let out a breath of relief when the wall began to move. She had feared that perhaps the password had been changed since she'd last visited.

Stepping into the room, she felt very nervous as she noticed the many Slytherins that filled the room. Thankfully, none were looking her way, but she could make out Draco sitting at a table in a dark corner, his hair shining in the dim light. She made to cross the room, but even after her first step she knew it was no use. There was no way she could get over to Draco without the other Slytherins noticing her presence.

As she had predicted, after only her fourth step, a couple of the Slytherin boys sitting by the fireplace looked up and she stopped dead, staring at them with frightening thoughts swirling around her numb brain.

"Hey, look, the Mudblood Granger's come for a visit!" the taller of the two boys said, standing up, a sneer contorted on his rather scarred face.

As one all the other Slytherins looked around at Hermione, who had gone quite pale in complexion and constantly threw glances Draco's way, but he merely sat there looking at her. She turned back to the one who had spoken, trying to ignore the ones around her who had stood and were now advancing on her.

"Hi," she said in a squeaky voice, giving a very weak and false smile. She cast a glance around her, taking in everyone's menacing expressions before desperately looking at Draco for help.

Hermione could've sworn a full minute had passed before Draco finally and very reluctantly stood up. "Leave her alone," he said with slight harshness, causing everyone to look around at him. "I think I know why she's here, so just leave her alone. I'm take her somewhere else. Come on, Hermione."

He led the way out into the dungeon passageway. He turned to her. "What the hell do you think you're doing, walking into the Slytherin common room when you know it's going to be packed with students?" he demanded. "They would've beaten you to a pulp if I hadn't stopped them!"

Hermione stared at him. "I came to see you," she said in a small voice. "I wanted you to know that your father has escaped Azkaban."

Draco's expression didn't falter. "I am actually aware of that," he said shortly. "Now, if you don't mind I have studying to do."

He made to walk away, but Hermione held out her hand and grabbed his arm to stop him. "Draco, have you had word from him at all?"

Draco narrowed his eyes slightly. "No," he said simply, making to walk away again, but Hermione stopped him again.

"Than what's with this foul attitude you've been having lately?" she asked. "Why are you treating me and everyone else as though we're not there? Why are you being so cold towards me?"

Draco looked at her upset face and relaxed slightly. "I'm sorry I've had this attitude lately, Hermione," he said. "I just…" He trailed off. "I've just been really stressed out lately. I'm behind in school and I've hardly done any studying. I'm beginning to think that if I don't get my act together I'm going to fail my NEWTs. I'm just stressed out."

Hermione nodded, but part of her had the distinct feeling he was lying to her. She vaguely considered telling him about her dream, but something within her stopped him.

"You really should be getting back to your studying then," she said. "Good luck with it all and –" She gave him a kiss on the lips "- I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, she walked away and out of sight. Draco stood, staring at the place she had disappeared with no more than guilt penetrating through his entire body. He placed a hand in the pocket of his robes and pulled out a piece of crumpled up parchment.

_Draco,_

_Your insolence and despicably selfish deed has been done. _

_Expect no more than murder to be set upon you and that Mudblood slime._

_- Your father, Lucius Malfoy._


	21. Killing Father

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing**_

_**Chapter 21**_

Draco headed slowly across the grounds towards the lake's edge, listening carefully to the things surrounding him, but hearing no more than his own feet crunching on the frosted grass and the distant sound of the trees in the Forest swaying in the light wind. He pulled his cloak tighter around him in an attempt to shield himself from the cold as he gave a light shiver.

He gazed around him, taking in the eerie shadows, but honestly not caring. Right now, all he wanted was to be alone, with no one to interrupt his constant trail of thought, no one to disrupt the anger surging through him, no one to break the emotions building up within him.

He reached the lake's shore and stared out at the calm surface of the water, the chilly, late-autumn breeze causing him to again pull his cloak tighter around him, shielding himself from the numb cold that was beginning to penetrate through him. He cast a look around at his surroundings, so silent except for the sounds of the trees' and bushes' leaves rustling in the wind. He headed over and took a seat on a large rock sitting nearby and continued to stare out over the water as he became oblivious to the cold, despite the chill numbing his face.

For years and years, Draco had looked up to his father, taken instructions from his father, been loyal to his father. But now, he regretted ever doing such a thing. One simple little mistake, one simple little feeling of truth, had caused everything between him and his father to change for the worse. It seemed rather unbelievable that the very same mistake had forced Draco's life into a totally new direction, one he would never have gone otherwise. He changed into someone very unlike the person he used to be and he fell in love with a girl he would have otherwise continued to despise. And he was facing death because of that.

Draco shuddered as the idea of death surfaced in his brain and he looked around again. The grounds were dark and very little light was floating down from the still-bright windows of the castle. The shadows from the trees moved eerily in the wind, and the stars and moon above were blocked behind a buildup of dark clouds. The atmosphere around him matched his mood quite well.

Draco gave a light sigh and placed a hand in his pocket, pulling out the crumpled piece of parchment he had been examining so very often lately and once again read the words written upon it, even though it was likely that he had memorised them.

_Draco,_

_Your insolence and despicably selfish deed has been done. _

_Expect no more than murder to be set upon you and that Mudblood slime._

_- Your father, Lucius Malfoy._

_Expect no more than murder_. The words caused such a great deal of emotion to overcome Draco that the letter shook violently in his hand. He scrunched it up and threw it to the side, trying his hardest to prevent the tears of anger, hopelessness and desperateness.

It would be _his_ fault if Hermione was murdered, _his_ fault if his father got away with it and he could've easily have prevented it. He could've easily have turned around to his father back during the summer and said he wanted to be a Death Eater, that he wanted to serve Voldemort. Doing that could've prevented the brutal bashing he'd received. Doing that could've prevented his turning up in Hermione's neighbourhood, where she took him in and cared for him and started the path to love between them. Doing that could've even prevented the killing of his mother, the one who had always been there for him and let him make his own decisions.

All in one, his emotions fought against fight to prevent them and brought him over the edge, tears pouring out of his eyes for the first time in so many years. He buried his face in his hands and sobbed harder than he would've ever have liked as the tears ran quickly down his usually pale face and his eyes swelled to an irregular size beneath his fingers.

"Crying about it all won't help, Draco," said a cold and extremely familiar voice from behind him. Draco froze where he sat. Even his sobs, tears and hiccoughing came to an abrupt halt as a small amount of fear overwhelmed him. "Tut, tut, tut. Emotions - never something I taught you to show... Absolutely disgraceful!"

Draco slowly looked up, his eyes still filled with tears. He wiped them and looked around, coming to land on his father, who was standing in the shade of a tree behind him. A cruel smirk curved his lips, though his pointed face was contorted into an expression of rage. Draco narrowed his eyes at him, aware of the firm hold his father held on his wand as he stared down at him.

"You have betrayed me to an extent I will not forgive," Lucius hissed maliciously, taking a step forward. Draco tried not to show any sign of weakness and continued to stare at his father with a look of deepest loathing. "I have warned you - more than once - to not fool around with worthless pieces of filth like that Granger. A Mudblood! I taught you better!"

"Hermione isn't a piece of filth," Draco said in a tone of uncertain calmness. "She's the complete opposite." He paused and hesitated before saying anything more. "And I think you're only using her, or rather, her and my relationship, as an excuse. You don't really want to kill her, just me, because I declined to become a Death Eater." He stood up, facing his father with a mixed expression of rage and loathing.

It seemed that Lucius had not expected Draco to say this, as his expression faltered for a few seconds before returning to one of the greatest fury Draco had ever seen upon his, or rather, anyone's face.

"You can say and make false assumptions as much as you wish, Draco, but that is not why I'm here. You can, also, keep sticking up for your little Mudblood friend ... or should I say _lover_?" Lucius smirked. "Continue to betray me and your family name. We Malfoy's are supposed to be no more, or, rather, _less_ than pure-bloods and I intend to keep it that way."

Lucius began to laugh, a cruel, cold laugh that chilled Draco to the bone and only built the anger raging through his veins. Draco stood, feeling rather hopeless with his hand on his own wand inside his robes, as he watched his father raise his to point straight at Draco's chest.

This was the end, Draco knew. In a few minutes he will be lying, lifeless on the water's edge. He will never get the chance to see Hermione or any of his friends or enemies again. He will never have another breath to spare, another word to speak, another emotion to feel. He will be dead.

Lucius opened his mouth, his wand held extremely steady in his hand, and a look of deepest concentration on his pale face. "_AVADA KED-_"

"NO!" cried an extremely frightened and familiar voice to the right.

Both Draco and Lucius looked around to see Hermione standing, rooted to the spot some ten metres away. Her face was immensely pale and she was trembling from head to toe, obviously too frightened to move any closer.

Lucius smirked an extremely evil smirk. "Oh, come to watch Draco die have you, Mudblood?" he asked in a mock-caring voice. "How very, very sweet. Is there any last words you would like to say to my dear son here?"

Hermione glared at Lucius and swallowed hard before turning to look at Draco, who had drawn his wand without his father noticing and was pointing it straight at him.

"Draco, don't," Hermione whimpered. "You'll just make it worse. You haven't a power that is near strong enough to stop him from killing us both!" Tears were shining in her eyes and she looked ready to break down at any moment.

Lucius let out a cold chuckle. "Listen to the girl, Draco," he advised with a smirk. "You haven't got enough power to stop me. You can try and duel me, but I'll just end up winning. You know that. You've watched me kill countless Muggles and" - he turned to look at Hermione - "_Mudbloods_. Put the wand down and allow me to send you somewhere else. Dear Hermione here will join you soon afterwards. You'll be together again."

Draco stared at his father, gripping his wand even tighter as the rage and hatred within him bubbled to a new height. "Oh, I do have the power. You know I do, don't you, Father? All that special Dark Arts training you gave me during my time off school. All those _extremely _powerful curses and jinxes and hexes you took so much time in teaching me. You yourself said that I could easily take your place if ever you needed me to. You were proud at how much I knew and learnt and how _enthusiastic_ I was about it all at the time. How I greatly enjoyed the training and couldn't wait for my next lesson. You can remember that, can't you Father?"

Lucius was staring at his son, casting cautious looks from Draco's face to the wand held tightly in his hand. He didn't look remotely as confident or as smug as he had. On the contrary, he looked almost frightened.

"Do you remember it, Father?" Draco repeated, taking a step towards Lucius, his grip on the wand still as firm as before and his eyes not moving an inch away from his father. "I honestly don't know why I've been so afraid of you until now, Father, when all along I have had a power close to equivalence of yours. You regret teaching me now, don't you, Father? You regret ever teaching me curse after curse after curse, don't you? You regret ever treating me like nothing, don't you? You regret killing Mother, don't you, when she was the one who made me see light, when she was the one who taught me that I was only going to put an end to my life with agreeing to become a Death Eater? You regret threatening the girl I love, don't you? You regret beating the _shit_ out of me, don't you? Don't you, Father? You regret it all and wish you could take it back, don't you?"

Lucius merely stared, just as Hermione did.

"You regret it all, don't you, Father?" Draco said forcefully, his voice shaking and rather quiet. "I know you do. But that doesn't matter. Your months of threats and murder is about to end with, just like you wanted, murder. But, I'm afraid you're not going to be the one committing it, Father. No, I'm afraid it's going to be me, and _you_ are the one that's going to die, not me, not Hermione, but _you_!"

Just as Draco made to open his mouth, Lucius' voice cut across him. "You can try, Draco, but I highly doubt that you have enough power to _kill_ me?" he asked in a tone of uncertain arrogance.

"Don't you remember that Muggle you forced me to kill over Christmas last year?" Draco asked harshly. "The black-haired one you found building a snowman in the forest?"

A strange expression crossed Lucius' pale face and he glanced at the wand held tightly in Draco's hand with a fretful look in his eyes. He tightened the grip on the wand in his hand confidently and pointed it straight at Draco's chest. "_Ava-!_"

"_AVADA KEDAVRA_!" Draco yelled across him in a fearful rush. A jet of green light flew from the tip of Draco's wand and hit his father square in the chest.

Hermione screamed and covered her eyes as Lucius crumbled to the ground, life leaving him before he hit the soft, wet sand beneath him.

**A/N: Quick note: there was a beta-reader swap in this chapter and the next ... Stephanie became Shikha... because Stephanie never replied when I sent her the chapter! I still love you though Stephanie!**


	22. An Ending with a Beginning Following

_**DISCLAIMER: Finally! Last one for now! WooHoo!Lets see I'll give a long oneshall I: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.Alos, I don'town this disclaimer for I borrowed it off Sorry... it just tells you that I own nothing!_

_**Chapter 22**_

Hermione stood shaking in Draco's arms, one eye on Lucius' limp form as though she was expecting it to show some sign of life. Her eyes were filled with tears and her face was still a pale white. The events of the past half-hour penetrated through her mind, causing images to flash before her eyes as though she was seeing it all over again.

Draco stood quite still, hardly speaking a word as Hermione sniffed and shook in his arms. He had nothing to say; he could think of no reason to have some sort of explanation for his actions. The Ministry of Magic could try and send him off to Azkaban or have him charged with some punishment, but he would stand tall and get his reason heard: He had done it save himself and the girl he loved. The law couldn't possibly overrule that.

The sound of people approaching the place where they stood broke the eerie silence and Draco looked around to see Dumbledore leading a small group of people including Cornelius Fudge, Professors McGonagall and Snape, three people whom neither Draco nor Hermione recognised, and, to Hermione's astonishment, Harry.

"I see you won a fair fight, Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore said, a small smile briefly covering the grave expression that was printed on his aged face.

Cornelius Fudge hurried forward and took Lucius' pulse. He looked up at Draco with a strange expression before turning to Dumbledore. "He's definitely dead, Albus," he said shakily.

"Of course he is," Draco snarled. "Only Potter has ever survived the Killing Curse!"

Dumbledore seemed to ignore the comment. "Very well," he said, looking around at the three unrecognisable people behind him. "Bendly, Jenkinson, Randell - take Lucius Malfoy's body up to the castle. Try your hardest to keep it out of view of anyone that might be taking a midnight walk. You know where the hospital wing is."

The three men walked forward and conjured a stretcher for Lucius' body. They headed away, back up to the castle wordlessly, one of them guiding the body with their wand.

Dumbledore turned to Fudge. "Cornelius, if you could please send word to the Ministry. Tell them Malfoy is dead and that his son, Draco, and Hermione Granger are safe and unharmed."

Fudge nodded before turning on his heel and following Bendly, Jenkinson and Randell's path up to the castle, leaving Dumbledore standing there with McGonagall, Snape, Harry, and, still wrapped in each other's arms, Draco and Hermione.

"Minerva, could you please take Harry and Hermione up to my office, please?" Dumbledore asked calmly to McGonagall.

McGonagall stepped forward slightly, gesturing Hermione to follow her. Hermione glanced at Draco, who gave a small nod, but she didn't move.

"There is no need to worry, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said calmly, looking at Hermione over his half-moon glasses. "Draco will be joining you soon. I would just like to have a quick talk with him and Professor Snape about the seriousness of his actions tonight." Hermione opened her mouth to say something but Dumbledore cut in. "I am quite aware that his actions were through protection and also in a life-threatening situation and, thereby, I can guarantee he will not be punished in any way."

Hermione nodded, gave Draco a kiss on the cheek and approached McGonagall and Harry. Together they headed up to the castle silently, entering the Entrance Hall and heading up the marble staircase without a word. The corridors were deserted and quiet, the only sounds coming from their feet as they hit the stone floor.

They entered Dumbledore's office through the wall behind the stone gargoyle and up the spiral staircase, the silver ornaments shining up at them. McGonagall conjured up chairs for them and sat down in one herself, silently twirling her wand between her fingers as Hermione and Harry looked around, avoiding each other's eyes.

Finally, after what felt like half an hour, the doors to the office opened again and Dumbledore stepped on through, Draco following right behind. McGonagall immediately stood up for Draco to take her seat.

"Thank-you, Minerva," Dumbledore said with a small nod. McGonagall gave a short nod and headed out of the office, closing the door behind her. Dumbledore headed around his desk and gracefully sat down behind it, surveying Harry, Draco and Hermione, his blue eyes twinkling behind his glasses.

"You might wonder," he began to Draco and Hermione, as Harry merely sat listening, "why I have let Draco's act of murder go unpunished. But really there is no need. I would have a right in thinking that if Draco had not used Avada Kedavra on his father, Lucius Malfoy, tonight, both he and Hermione would be dead, meaning that his act was that of protection. I can not punish someone for protecting himself and a fellow person.

"I might also mention that if it weren't for Harry here" - Draco and Hermione looked around at Harry - "as well as Lavender Brown, I wouldn't have been aware of Hermione's absence from Gryffindor Tower. According to Miss Brown, you woke up screaming, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked, looking at Hermione carefully.

"Yes, I had another dream," Hermione said slowly. "It was different from the others, though. Similar, yes, but ... different. Everything I saw tonight down by the lake was in my dream. All except for one thing: Draco didn't die. In my dream it was Draco who died, not Lucius - just like in my other dreams."

Dumbledore nodded in understanding. "It is possible for your dreams and premonitions to give false information, Hermione," he said. "The fact that the false information is as major as the death of a person in this case, is very unfortunate, but I'm afraid there is nothing you can really do to change that. Your gift will grow soon enough and, if it is powerful enough, you should be able to avoid such false visions."

Hermione nodded, and looked around at Harry. To her surprise, Harry gave her a small smile.

"Now," Dumbledore said with a small sigh as he stood up, "it is quite late and as you have classes tomorrow, I feel it wise that you all head back to bed."

Harry, Hermione and Draco stood up and made for the door, which Dumbledore held open for them.

"Thank-you, Professor," Hermione said weakly, heading through behind Draco, feeling Harry's gaze on her back.

The news of Lucius Malfoy's death on the grounds spread quickly through the castle, though the story of exactly what happened varied from student to student and very few knew the truth.

Hermione had passed a group of third-year Hufflepuffs in a corridor three days after the events by the lake and overheard them telling an extremely detailed and over-exaggerated story about Lucius being squeezed to death by the giant squid. She had also, on that very same day, heard a fifth-year boy telling his blonde girlfriend that Professor Flitwick had told him Lucius had in fact died of brain hemorrhage and just happened to be in the Hogwarts grounds at the time!

All in all, however, Hermione found that her life had increasingly improved from how it had been a week prior, not only because there was no longer a mad Death Eater after her and Draco, but also because of some sudden changes in people's attitudes towards her. She was no longer that bookworm Gryffindor that was having it off with the popular Slytherin prince and being teased for it. She was the respected person she had been before Draco and the rest of the school year's events, who just happened to be getting hot and heavy with a changed Draco Malfoy. That was how she wanted it.

Harry and Ron, two of the only people who knew the true story, had approached her the morning after Lucius' death and had asked for her forgiveness with Harry stating that he was immensely sorry for his selfish being and attitude towards her and Draco's relationship. Hermione had quite happily accepted their very long and meaningful apologies with open arms and platonic kisses.

Draco's foul attitude towards everything had also ceased and he was being exceptionally charming towards Hermione in a kind of act for her to forgive and forget it.

Hermione had of course had to give her own short line of apologies, beginning with telling Draco she was deeply sorry for not telling him about her dreams, though he seemed not to care and responded to it by kissing her neck in a fiery passion.

And now, as she lay naked beside him in bed, she could admit to honestly having no regrets about what had happened since the moment she had awakened from her dream about Draco being brutally punished by his father over the summer. Everything had turned out for the better and not a thought could make her want to turn back the time and change a single something. She was happy with everything. Not even her newest sequence of dreams featuring Voldemort, his Death Eaters and dying innocent beings could possibly ruin that happy feeling that swelled inside her chest. To her, everything was perfect and she felt that everything that was to follow this moment was just another adventure for her to take, just like the months passed.

_**The End**_

**Author notes:** "_From Dreams to Reality" is finished... and the sequel: "Clairvoyance and theConsequences" isn't far away.Search my name at FictionAlley . org if you wish to read the first 12 or so chapters straight away!_

_I'd just like to say a final thanks to all my wonderful, wonderful reviewers! You guys kept me writing all the way throughout this fic and it honestly wouldn't be the same without you all! This fic also wouldn't be the same without my brilliant beta-readers, Samantha, Stephanie (though she was for some reason unable to contribute to the final two chapters), and Shikha, who helped with the final two chapters! You guys are brilliant and I thank you SOOOOOOOOOO much for your much-needed help! I'd also like to say thanks to Orla-Destiny, my close friend who opened me up to the world of D/Hr in which I live in! Your work is truly brilliant (If you haven't already read Orla's fic, When Enemies Interact on Astronomy Tower or on this site... a quick search will get you to it! You're missing out if you don't…)_

_Anywayz, I really hope you enjoyed this fic as much as I did when writing it…_

_REMEMBER TO REVIEW! I'LL LOVE YOU MORE IF YOU DO!_

_**Karalee "Fiery Punk Princess" Rowe  
**"ROCK ON!"_


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